Like That
by libraryloser
Summary: Lucy meets four guys at Hogwarts and they hit it off. Who could ask for better friends than the Marauders? But she doesn't like any of them... like that. Honest! What, you don't believe her? You probably shouldn't. A Marauder/OC, but I won't spoil it.
1. Lucy is Not a Nun

**A/N: Yes, I'm back already, with my second story! Of course it's a marauder story, and of course the first chap is pointless. But every fic needs somewhere to start from! Let me konw what you think. I swear it will pick up soon.**

**Lucy is not a Nun**

I was scared to death when I set that sorting hat on my head first year, not knowing where I'd be… a humiliated Hufflepuff? A nasty Slytherin? Would anyone like me? Thank Merlin it was Ravenclaw, although Gryffindor might have been better.

I was also scared in my second year when a pair of Slytherin bullies cornered me in the lower dungeon and burned my school books, page by page, until I agreed to steal fire whiskey from the pub in Hogsmeade for them. Lucky for me, four third-year Gryffindor boys arrived at that moment for their potions lesson to hex the toenails off those Slytherin gits.

It was completely terrifying my third year, when I got that letter about my parents' accident. I didn't know how I'd make it on my own. I don't think I would have, if those same boys hadn't been there to hold me until I could breathe again and sneak me stolen Honeyduke's chocolate.

Fourth year was frightening because I had lost control of myself. I didn't care and I didn't think. I was miserable and let it consume me. Once again, my guys were there to keep me on track. With their help, I became myself again.

Fifth year wasn't scary at all. Fifth year was fabulous because I had four best friends. I had friends in my own house and in my own year, but they really did study too much. My four best friends were sixth year Gryffindor boys, and much to the jealousy of all girls in my year, they were _the_ Gryffindor boys. Sure I made mistakes that year… we won't even talk about him… or the other… but the guys always got me through it.

All that brings us to sixth year. Beginning my story in sixth year may prove to be slightly anti-climactic, since I only plan on telling about this year, but by seventh year my boys will be graduated, and my life will end. Figuratively speaking, of course, but who can honestly live without laughter?

So, I was talking about sixth year. My name is Lucy Brown. It sounds like a perky little cartoon character name, I know. I don't really look like a cartoon character, though. I have short, flippy, dark red hair, and look a bit like the chick in the Josie and the Pussycats movie. Come to think of it, she was based off from a cartoon, wasn't she? Drat.

The most notable thing about me, besides being rather short, is that I am a member of the most infamous posse ever known to Hogwarts. Sure, they won't let me take the title of "Marauder," because apparently it's sacred and I would ruin the image, being a female Ravenclaw and all. But honestly, there's only one day per month that we don't hang out together, and that's only because I'm not an animagus like them and can't follow them off to the shrieking shack for some good fun.

"I don't know…" Sirius would say. "I think she's frightening enough as a human."

"Yeah," James would add. "We would take good care of her, come on Moony…"

Then of course Remus would frown. "Do you really think I would take the chance of biting one of my best friends and ruining her life forever?"

"Come on, Moony. I think it would be kind of fun to be a werewolf. At least I wouldn't be so left out."

To which Remus's response was always a stern glare. "Lucy! How can you think for one minute that being a werewolf could be ever be fun? Is that what I am to you? Entertainment?" And then of course he'd go off for an hour, sounding like Professor Binns. Honestly, the boy can't take a joke.

Truth is, life with the marauders is solid fun. We plan amusing little pranks for the weekends or to get out of classes, and spend at least a week planning whoppers for the holidays. Our plan for Cinco de Mayo last year was quite possibly the most monumental event ever. Of course, Peter didn't get it.

"Isn't Cinco de Mayo a Mexican holiday? That's not even on our calendar. That's like… not even on our continent."

Sirius Black looked up from the Hogwarts blueprint the was studying and swept his wavy black hair away from his face so he could roll his eyes at Peter. "Listen, Pete. Do you wanna help us vanish the whole fourth floor, or do you want to whine about technicalities?"

"I want to vanish the whole fourth floor. But then we won't be able to go to Charms on Thursday, because it's on the fourth floor, and we have an exam."

I snorted. "That is entirely the point." Honestly.

It's not really Peter's fault that he's so dumb. I don't know who's fault it is, but I'm sure they didn't mean for it to go this far. He's really only a Marauder because he, Remus, James, and Sirius are the only Gryffindors in their year, and it makes using their dorm as our plotting grounds so much more convenient if we don't have to kick him out. He does play a purpose, though. We all do. Peter is there to be the test-subject/guinea pig,/doormat of the group. He provides entertainment, and I guess he's there to make the others feel good about themselves. Not to say he's bad looking, just in comparison.

Sirius is there to look like a stud and add a twist of wackiness and wickedness to our schemes. I really think that some of his family's darkness rubbed off on him, because he has a streak of pure-evil genius to him.

James is there to be a smooth-talking hottie and to captain the Gryffindor quidditch team, bringing power, prestige, and unwanted female attention to the group. He's also there because he's the only one who can control Sirius after the first round of fire whiskey.

Remus is there to bring order and human logic to the group. He also bails us out when we get caught, with a brilliant combination of charm, flattery, and a good relationship with the faculty. By that, I mean he's every teacher's pet and I strongly suspect that Madam Pince wants in his drawers.

And how do I fit into the group? I guess I ended up here by lucky chance. At the time, I didn't consider it lucky to be cornered by Slytherins my second year, but if I hadn't, I never would have ended up with these guys. I am there to be Peter's girl advice when he gets too hopeless, James's excuse date when he can't get girls off his back about the next Hogsmeade trip, Sirius's like-mind when no one else understands his sick humor, and Remus's partner in wisdom (I am, after all, still a Ravenclaw) when the ridiculousness of the others gets out of hand.

I know I talk about the Marauders like I have a crush on them all (well, except Peter), but while these guys have my undying devotion, I only think of them as friends. They protect me like I'm their little sister, but not in a condescending way. They guys tell me I'm cute, but having a formidable power like the Marauders at my side, I haven't had the greatest luck with guys. Most other guys are intimidated by them and what might happen if they accidentally broke my heart. When Jonah Chambers cheated on me fifth year, the Marauders made sure he was sorry. Ever since then, the only guy brave enough to so much as look at me is Owen Dartmouth… and I must say I've been looking back. He's a total dish. I'm even kind of hoping for a date to Hogsmeade with him. Melanie, a Ravenclaw in my year, and consequently my dormmate, thinks I'm bonkers. Sure, Owen's good looking... but I have connections! If I wanted, I could have a Marauder! But I think she's the bonkers one. She's got it bad for Sirius.

This brings us to today, the second day of the term, sixth year. The five of us, (that is, the Marauders and I, for you slow ones) were sprawled out by the black lake, taking in the summer's dying rays and chatting up the day's events. James, as always, was playing with a snitch. I don't know why he always does that. It aggravates Lily so, and I keep telling him he won't get her by intentionally aggravating her. He tells me I don't know what I'm talking about. Funny, being female, I think I do.

"So, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is kind of a fox."

I groan. "That is sick, James."

"What? Maybe I should move on to older women. School girls don't do much for me anymore."

Sirius chortled. "What about Lily?"

"Lily doesn't count."

"I see."

I remember my earlier thought. "So, speaking of foxes, Owen looks good this year."

"EW!" Shout Sirius and Peter simultaneously.

James looks at me incredulously. "But… he's a _boy!_"

Sometimes they don't get it. "Yes. And I'm a girl."

They exchange looks as it dawns on them one by one. James pats me on the back. "Oh yeah. You know, sometimes we forget. You're not stupid like most girls are."

"That's sweet of you."

Sirius snorts. "Yes she is. Owen _Dartmouth_, the Hufflepuff prat?"

"He's not a prat! He's quidditch captain, remember?"

It was James's turn to snort. "You can hardly call what he does 'captaining'."

Sirius nodded. "And you can hardly call what they do 'quidditch'."

Remus finally spoke up. "Guys, she's not a nun."

Sirius looked indignant. "You mean she's going to _shag_ him?!"

"Ugh, no! Where did you get that from? I just meant we can't keep her from dating other guys."

"Yes we can, because she always picks prats."

I gave a loud sigh of exasperation. "Would you feel better if I let you pick who I date?"

"No," all four said at once.

"Well, why ever not?!"

"Because," James said. "There can't possibly be a single guy in this whole bloody school that's better than us."

And of course they were right. The Marauders were the Hogwarts kings, the quidditch stars, the charmingly hilarious famous jokesters, the super-fine school studs. But I don't like Marauders "_that way_."

The thought never even crossed my mind.

Honest.

**A/N: Sooo... I didn't like the first chapter much, but I know kind of where I'm going and I like that. Of course, feedback would be lovely!**


	2. Abraham and the Awkard Silence

**A/N: Chap 2 up now... I don't know about it. I really don't know about this whole story. We'll see, I suppose. Hope you like it.**

**Abraham and the Awkward Silence**

Naturally, Wednesday was going to suck. Wednesday was Potions with Hufflepuff and Slughorn (being a muggleborn, I was not a Slug Club candidate), Divination (I didn't drop out 4th year like most... hey, it's an easy credit), and charms.  
Now, charms is great for most people, but I am awful at it. Lily Evans is great at it, and she has to tutor me.

Mostly, Wednesday was going to suck because I'd be alone. Remus was going to be "sick." The other three were going to have to "accompany him to St. Mungo's."

And while they were having a jolly time at the "hospital," I'd be predicting their demise in Divination.

"Aw, don't look so sad, Lucy-goose. We'll be back before you know it!" At least Remus tried. James and Sirius too busy planning the fantastic time they were going to have that night. Without me. It was like they were rubbing it in. And Peter was sucking his thumb. Strange child... he always got so nervous going out, being the smallest and most likely to get eaten by a ravenous werewolf. I think it's given him a complex.

Remus glanced at them and rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. It's not like I'm out there having a great time."

"Well, they are," I pouted.

"Well, they are prats."

"Very true." I sighed, looking for one last way out of my Wednesday of lonliness. "Hey, Pete! I bet it's no fun spending the night almost getting eaten by these guys. You told me yourself, your little legs can hardly keep up with them. Why don't you chill with me for the day and tonight?"

Peter actually looked as though he was considering it when Sirius, ever the reckless one, stopped him from speaking. "Don't be a wimp, Wormtail. Besides, without you, how do we freeze the weeping willow?"

I rolled my eyes. "Poke it with a big stick, like you told Snape that one time. Der."

James and Sirius exchanged desperate looks. "Come on, Goosey. We just want all of us to go. You can't steal our little wormtail away from us tonight. We need him for the little details. But hey, learn how to turn into a tiger or something and you can join us!"

"Yeah!" said Peter. "Or like a panther, because your hair is black and shiny and beautiful like a panther!"

"Ummmmm..." awkward silence among all.

"Ha!" I shouted. "Someone is thinking about Abraham Lincoln."

"What are your ranting about?"

"Nothing. I was just told once that whenever there's an awkward silence, it means someone is thinking about Abe Lincoln."

Remus shook his head. "I don't think that's possible."

"Well," I continued, "Obviously if you know that every awkward silence is caused because someone thought about Abraham Lincoln, then whenever there is a silence, everyone will think about Abe Lincoln, making it true."

"Umm, maybe."

Peter looked confused. "Like, every silence in the world? Because not everyone knows Abe Lincoln. I didn't meet him until the third time we snuck into the kitchens."

It took the others a moment to figure out what the bonkers Peter was talking about, when James caught on.  
"Pete, Abraham Lincoln, like, the American president. Not Ablinkin the house elf."

"Oooohhhh."

"Does anyone remember what we were talking about?"

And of course, no one did, so they all left for the "hospital" before I ever got to finish arguing with them about the fact that they ditch me every month for the bloody full moon.

It was a terribly depressing potions class. We were studying the most gruesome potion that makes people implode from the inside, dissolving their organs into one dense fluid. I made it through the class by picturing the lovely scene that would be caused when I slipped it into the marauder's pumpkin juice in the morning if they uttered one word about the great time they had the night before.

Oh, and also, Owen Dartmouth was two rows ahead. Owen and his sexy brown surfer hair. Shagadellic.

At one point, the power of my gaze on the back of his head brought him to turn around. He caught me staring for the breifest of seconds, but it was enough to turn my face bright pink as I went back to my potion. A moment later, I chanced another glance up at him. He was still staring, and when I caught his eye, he winked.  
_Score one for the home team_, I thought, as my brain turned to goo. I began to mix my potion with greater zeal, but only suceeded in spilling whelk juice into it. It bubbled and steamed and filled the room with a fish odour. I didn't really care because Owen totally just winked at me.

At the end of the class, I walked a bit slower than necessary so Owen could catch up without jogging conspicuously through the crowd. He speed walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder.

"Owen!" Let me tell you, it's difficult to be charming and act surprised at the same time. But I managed a half-decent surprised voice while batting my eyelashes and smiling sweetly at the hottest thing ever to pop out of Hufflepuff. Talk about muti-tasking.

"Hey," he said. "So, I've been watching you."

"That's not creepy at all," I joked.

"Sorry, not like that. I just mean, I think you're really cool, and maybe if you're free Saturday, you'd like to meet me for Hogsmeade?"

"I'd love to. Sounds like fun!" I smiled what I hoped was a winning smile. It seemed to work because he turned pink for a moment. Probably the best thing about being a girl is the ability to make men blush. Guys can't make other guys blush. It's a girl thing.

"So," he said after clearing his throat a couple times. "I will meet you in the great hall at nine Saturday morning, alright?"

"I'll be looking forward to it," I said, trying to make it sound the slightest bit seductive, but not obvious.  
Then I flipped my hair over my shoulder, turned around, and walked away, that cutesy walk that can only be done if you really think about your hips. I knew perfectly well that the whole act had been superbly executed, and Owen was dead in his tracks behind me.

I've learned from hanging around with guys my whole life that if you want respect in the relationship, you must have them whipped from the very beginning. Once you have them completely in love with you, you pretty much own them. Since the guys have said I have all the flirting skills of a rock, I was pretty excited for this little victory.

I managed to remain composed until I had successfully reached my dorm. Then I burst out into a jig and sang the national anthem. For some reason, it seemed appropriate.

Maybe this Wednesday wouldn't suck so badly after all.

**A/N: Soo, it's really too late to be writing fanfiction tonight. This drabble is the result. But you will never get my drabble again if you don't review. So be careful.**


	3. Feminine Charm

**A/N: So this morning I was on the bus and these four guys got on, and I swear they were the marauders. There were two hot ones joking and being cool, one who had his nose in a book but joked with them periodically, and this short chubbyish one who they kept teasing. There was also a girl that got on with them, also reading. One of the hot guys (the one with messy hair) kept glancing at her every time he made a joke, but she just kept reading. When he'd look away, she's smirk a little and glance back. I wanted to tell her that she was going to marry him and that their children would save the wizarding world some day, but I thought that might be a bit strange. Anyway, the whole bus was laughing at these guys' conversation... and I'm like wow. I've met the real-life maruaders. True story.**

**But back to fiction:**

**Feminine Charm**

The next morning I sat on a hospital bed, waiting for it's occupant to wake up. The sun's morning rays bathed the white stone walls of the hospital wing and there was a quiet hum of noise from the floor above as students began to stir, getting ready for the day.

Remus rolled over in his un-peaceful sleep, frowning and breathing unevenly. I knew it would be a couple nights before he'd sleep soundly and quietly again, for another month of peace. At one point, he twitched violently, furrowing his brow in some wolfish dream, gripping his pillow tightly. His sleeve was rolled up, and I noted four parallel scratches in his forearm. Those would probably be the work of Sirius, who wasn't the most well-mannered pet when the full moon came about. The four boys never escaped the night without a fair amount of rough play.

"Morning." His voice startled me so badly that I almost choked on my heart as it leapt out of my throat. He laughed gingerly, still shaken from the night's events.

"Remus, you gave me a fright! Warn me before you speak in the future."

"What would you like me to do?"

"Say, 'Lucy, I'm awake and going to speak now, please prepare yourself.'"

He laughed harder this time. "As you wish."

"How are you feeling?"

He pulled on a serious face. "Lovely. I believe I will get up and go for a run now, perhaps a swim across the lake. In fact, a triathalon sounds rather lovely. Do you have a Siclebickle I could borrow?"

"A what?"

"A Siclebickle. It's this muggle transportation device that you sit on like a broomstick, except it doesn't fly, and has two wheels and you have to balance and pedal to make it go. Muggles swim, run, and siclebickle in a triathalon race. We learned about it in Muggle Studies, don't you remember?"

"Oh, yes," I lied. I honestly could care less about muggle contraptions because they're mental. Balance and pedal on the ground when you could just up and fly away on a broomstick? Honestly, the next thing these people will come up with will be pictures that can't talk.

The peaceful atmosphere was interrupted by a deafening ruckus that could only mean the other three marauders had awoken and decided to grace us with their presence. They burst into the hospital wing with such a cacophony that I was surprised Poppy didn't tell them off.

"Morning, mates!" James sang loudly.

Sirius bounced in beside him. "And what a beautiful day it is!"

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood..." Peter went off singing some strange song about being a neighbor while we breifly stared in wonder. "Mr. Rogers," he said with a shrug. OK, whoever that was.

"What's so great about the morning? It's Thursday. We have class," Remus moaned.

"Simply that this morning followed a lovely night," James said matter of factly.

"Speak for yourself."

"Actually," I said with the air of someone dishing out a great secret, which I was, "It is a great morning."

"And why might that be?"

"Because it's one day closer to Saturday."

"And what's Saturday?"

"Hogsmeade!" I shouted and did a little jig.

"Excellent," said James. "First Hogsmeade of the year... I've been needing to hit Zonko's."

"Bugger, I haven't found a date." Sirius frowned.

"Oh, whine about it," Peter rolled his eyes. "I never have a date."

"But if I haven't got one, girls will follow me all around while we're there and get in the way. Hey Lucy-goose, wanna be my 'date?' I'll buy the butterbeer if you pretend to swoon over me."

"No can do this time, sorry Sirius. Because, I--"

"Don't worry! We won't let Megan and her Calories-Are-Death Eaters attack you this time." Sirius was referring to Megan Carrows, the head of his and James's "fan club," and her two side-kick beauty queens Lisa and Elisa. Last time I was Sirius's "date" they cornered me in Honeydukes and tried to shove an acid pop down my throat.

"That's not the problem. I'm already taken."

"Really, Lucy, we won't let them near you! And this way you wan't have to go alone all year."

Remus punched his arm. "Way to be sensitive. Prat."

"For your information," I snapped hotly, "I already have a date, as hard as that may be to believe. I'm going with Owen."

"Oh no!" James breathed. "How are you going to get out of it?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not. Owen's a catch, and I want to go."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, and Peter's a Death Eater."

Peter yelped.

We turned to him with concern and Sirius attempted to be reassuing. "I'm kidding you moron."

Peter just swallowed and laughed uncomfortably.

"So Goose, how in Merlin's name did you manage to get stuck dating Owen-the-Hufflepuff-Wanker?"

"My feminine charm." I batted my eyelashes.

They stared at me for a moment before bursting into roarous laughter.

"I didn't think it was _that_ funny," I growled.

"It- laugh not cough funny at a- snort all... more laughing so sorry snort Goosey!"

"I think it's time for breakfast." They were too preoccupied laughing to hear me. I drew my wand. "_Scaena Bacon_."

The room filled with a lovely scent.

"Hmmmm... do I smell bacon?" The boys finally looked up. Sirius howled like a hound on a fox trail and the guys took off towards the door, Remus kicking his sheets away as he went, still in his pajama pants.

_Well_, I thought, _if the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, that must be the way to his brain, too_. I charged after them. They slid to a halt in the Great Hall, staked out their usual bench and walked to it with the confident swagger that only they could accomplish. I followed closely behind, grinning when the smell of actual bacon hit my nose.

After a filling breakfast, we got up to get ready for classes.

"Alright, Brown?"

I turned to the source of the voice and saw that Owen had arrived and was sitting at the Hufflepuff table.

"Lovely," I squeaked. _Hooray for sounding cool_.

The Marauders had piled up behind me and were standing there, gaping like loons.

Owen gave them a comical look before turning back to me. "Interested in sitting with me for breakfast?"

"I'd love to." _Good, I sounded very cool_.

Remus frowned. "But Luce, you've already eaten." _Ok, not so good_.

"But I've already eaten, so I can't." _Ha, nice save_.

"Oh, too bad." Owen looked thoughtful. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Merlins balls, yes!" _Hmm_. "Er. Yeah, that sounds spiffing."

He smiled hesitantly. "Mmmmm...k. See you tomorrow."

James grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the hall before things could get worse. At least they managed to make it out of the hall before exploding with laughter.

"Oh yes, Lucy!" Sirius roared, while Remus held his sides and James and Peter rolled on the floor. "Feminine charm indeed!"

**A/N: You know the drill... review! Also, subscribe to my C2- Marauder Medley. It's good stuff, and if you like this story, or my other one, you'll like these stories. Thanks**


	4. Lucy is Also Not a Cheerleader

**A/N: Short, but there will probably be more tonight... never fear.**

**Lucy is Also Not a Cheerleader**

Friday was an excruciatingly long day. It started out when we left breakfast. The five of us (MWPP and myself) left together. Naturally, they ragged on me the whole way to the common room about having sat with Owen at breakfast (unbelievably awkward, don't get me started.) and I made a mantra out of the phrase "you're just jealous."

"Jealous because we want to snog Owen? You're bonkers," remarked the ever-daft Sirius.

"No, you're jealous because I think there are better and more dateable men out there for me to spend my time with, besides you poor excuses for males."

"Oh, of course. This coming from the queen of femininity. Tell me, did you show Owen that trick where you chug pumpkin juice and burp your ABC's?"

"No, I showed him the other trick."

The boys stopped dead. James's eyes widened. "You mean the one where you take the cherry off the waffle plate and tie the stem in a knot with your tongue?!"

I smirked. "Double knot."

Sirius wailed. "I can't believe we missed it!"

"I can do that too," said Peter.

We all shuddered. "No one wants to see that, Pete."

When we started off again, it only took us a moment to realize, with a start, that we were no longer alone. Megan had fallen into step beside James and seemed to be waiting to be acknowledged. When he deliberately ignored her, she cleared her throat. If he was to keep up the charming reputation that he had developed with the women of Hogwarts, he would have to speak up.

"Alright, Carrows?"

"Oh, hello, James. I hadn't noticed you there." _Mmmmhmmm... sure_.

James sighed. Sometimes it was difficult to be polite. "Of course not. So, what are you up to?"

She gave a dramatic sigh. "Well, I'm actually glad you asked. I had heard you were quidditch captain this year, is that right?" As if everyone in school didn't know. James wasn't one to be quiet and modest when it came to quidditch.

"Yeah," James said. "I'd heard that rumor too."

Megan giggled. "Oh James, you're too much!" _Gag me with a spoon._ "Anyway, the reason I was asking was because I had hoped to start a cheerleading squad for the Gryffindor quidditch team, to support and give you boys the recognition you deserve."

"What's cheerleading?" asked Peter.

Sirius grinned rougishly. "I'm not muggle, but even I know that one."

"Me too," added James. "Cheerleaders are muggle girls who wear little skirts and bounce up and down a lot at sport games. Up and down and up and down..."

"ANYWAY," interrupted Remus, "I'm pretty sure that's a yes from James."

"Good. Slughorn authorized a squad for the Slytherin team already--"

"I'll bet he did, the old horn dog--"

"JAMES!"

"-- so I asked Dumbledore and he said we could have one for Gryffindor house if the captain agreed."

"And I do."

"Can I join?" _Oh my gosh, did I actually just say that? They're looking at me like I'm crazy. Yup, I must have said it out loud_.

"Ummm..." Megan looked at me with disdain. "I suppose... if you really wanted, you could try to organize a squad for Ravenclaw."

"But I cheer for Gryffindor."

"But you're not _in _Gryffindor. So I guess not. So sorry." _Yeah, you really look sorry. Except not really_. "See you around James. Sirius. Remus." She gave a little flirty wave to each one as she turned to leave.

I rolled my eyes. "That was stupid."

I realized the guys were still staring dumbstruck at me. "Earth to the Marauders... come in... do you read?"

James voiced what they were all thinking. "Lucy Goose... a cheerleader?" That broke the silence and the boys burst out laughing at me once again.

"I don't think it's that outrageous," I tried for indignance, but I could only sound defensive.

Sirius was near tears. "I am just trying to picture you as a cheerleader. I can't do it... it's just not possible!"

James hooted. "I don't think I've ever seen you in a skirt!"

Remus tried to remain composed. "Goosey... you don't really want... (snort) I mean cheerleaders are a kind of..." he trailed off.

"Pretty?" I supplied.

"No... that's not what I meant!"

"Feminine?"

"Well... yeah, I guess."

"Hmmph."

"Aw," Sirius said, throwing an arm around my shoulder, "Don't be this way, Luce."

"Yeah," James went to my other shoulder. "Cheerleading is for girls like Megan. You are too cool to be out there, throwing your self at us, wearing a little itty bitty skirt, bouncing..."

"_James..._" Remus warned.

"--up and down, up and down... I just can't picture you hanging off us studly quidditch players, giving yourself to us in unholy ways at the celebration party, in those flippy little skirts..."

"JAMES!"

We all turned to Remus, who was a bizarre shade of fuscia. He cleared his throat. "Ahh... let's give Lucy a little respect."

I huffed. "Yes, lets." And I stomped away.

"You know what? I didn't have any trouble picturing Lucy as a cheerleader, in a little skirt..."

"PETER! Shut up!"

"Come on, Remus, you were doing it too."

Remus turned, if possible, more red.

**A/N: Teehee. Short like I said, and pointless in a necessary kind of way... because sometimes people need fluff. Too much plot is depressing. But believe you me... there will be plot. Review, and then join my C2!**


	5. Honey, I Blew Up the Cat

**A/N: Second chapter in one night... I'm on a roll. I might even keep going! You're so lucky I didn't have to do my history paper tonight.**

**Honey, I Blew Up the Cat**

When I got to the Ravenclaw dorm, I dug through my trunk in a frenzy. There must be something here... a skirt, a dress... even a scrap of pink fabric. There! But no, it was a Gryffindor flag that had faded until the red looked pinkish. I groaned. It looked like I'd be making a trip to Hogsmeade early tonight. Of course, I couldn't steal James's invisibility cloak or their map if I was mad at them, so it would be risky. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

So, when all my classes were finished (and goodness, did they ever drag) I snuck towards the one-eyed witch statue and prodded it with my wand. With a quick glance around, I slipped into the exposed hole. Before I could make it fully in, my heart skipped at a movement on the ground. It was Mrs. Falkis, Filch's stupid cat. She would surely run off to her master and bring him back here, meaning I was totally screwed. She glared at me for a moment before mewing and trotting off around the corner. I froze. What do I do now?

But I needn't have worried. I heard manic, ferocious barking. A moment later, Mrs. Falkis came careening around the corner, a big black dog hot on her heels, looking, perhaps, more frightened that I'd ever seen a cat look. On top of all that, Peter, Remus and James popped around the corner, drawing their wands and pulling them on the cat.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_

_"Stupefy!!!"_

_"Diffindo!"_

The three spells hit the cat with such a vigor that with a loud crack, like the sound of someone apparating, she exploded in a cloud of fur.

We all stared for a moment.

Sirius turned back into a human. "Oh no."

"Diffindo? Peter, were you trying to cut the cat in half?"

"I thought that was the one that made your tongue roll up."

"No! That's a severing charm!"

Meanwhile, little pieces of fur rained down around us. Remus sneezed.

"Well," said James, "I think we're in trouble. We've never killed anything before."

"Aw, she was ancient anyways."

"Sirius! That cat was pretty much Filch's lover! We're going to be given detentions, at the very least..."

"Like we haven't done that before."

"This is a bit more grave than usual."

Remus sneezed again.

"I've got a plan." James prodded the cat with his wand. "We just take the cat and stick it by the Whomping Willow. Filch will think it just got too close and was walloped by the tree. She was old... she could have been confused and just wandered too near..."

Remus frowned at the idea, but didn't say anything.

The rest of us thought it was genius, so we levitated the cat out the window and across the grounds, laying it to rest under the old tree, which didn't sense the floating cat and remained still.

We all breathed out in relief when the cat was gone. "Well done, James! Crisis averted."

"Thanks, Luce... but why were you sneaking off to Hogsmeade in the first place? And without the cloak or the map?"

"I need to buy a dress to wear when I go out with Owen tomorrow to Hogsmeade."

They all exchanged looks. "Why don't you just wear pants like you always do?"

"Oh, I can't wear a skirt because it's too girly, is that it?"

"Listen, Goose. We're sorry about earlier. You would make a great cheerleader if you really wanted, and you could be girly, I'm sure..." James tried.

"It's dat we like you jus fine da way you are."

"Remus, what's wrong with your voice?"

"I'b allergig to cads." Translation: He's allergic to cats. I think.

Sirius started. "Oh, man, we should clean up the evidence."

James nodded, simphoning away the cat hair with his wand. "Yeah, and when this is clean, if you absolutely must get a dress, we're coming with you."

Peter and Sirius nodded, and we looked to Remus. "Dot me," he wheezed. "I'b going to da hosbidal wig." Translation: He's going to the hospital wing. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what he meant.

I opened my mouth to tell them that they could not, under any circumstances, go dress shopping with me, but they cut me off before I could start. So, grudgingly, I slipped into the old witch's hump followed by Sirius, James, and Peter.

"How did you guys find me, anyway?"

"Map, you dork. We saw you sneaking towards the one-eyed witch statue and guessed you were up to something, but then we saw Falkis following and thought we'd come save your butt."

"Yeah, we'd hate for you to spend your big date in detention."

"Well, thanks, I guess."

When we arrived in Hogsmeade, we headed straight for the robes shop. I tried on dress after dress, really having no clue where to start, while the boys sat outside the changing room moaning and complaining.

"Well, you were the ones who insisted on coming with me."

"We thought it would be more fun," whined James.

"What part of waiting for me to try dresses in was supposed to be fun?"

"Well," Sirius offered, "We had hoped to see you in a few of them, but you won't come out of the fitting stall."

"Yeah right, you'll just take the mickey out of me. They're all hideous."

James bounced in his seat. "That's because you don't know what you're doing. Let us choose some."

I sighed. "You don't know the first thing about dresses, James."

"Neither do you. Besides, I check girls out all the time and I notice their dresses."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, girls always leave their dresses in my room, so I have quite a bit of experience."

I rolled my eyes. "You mean you have experience taking girls' dresses off..."

"My mom has a dress!" Peter added.

"Fine! You can choose some, but hurry, I think they close soon." I sat on the bench of the fitting stall, waiting for those morons to shop for dresses. They threw them over the door one by one. James's was some horrible choking maroon thing that looked like a nun habit.

"It's darling!" He declared upon seeing it.

"First of all, I will never let you forget that you said something was 'darling,' and second of all, we've been over this. I am not a nun!"

"Yes, but it's modest and appropriate."

"And ugly. I'll try on Sirius's."

"Fine," he pouted.

Sirius's dress was like a jumper. It has long ruffly sleeves and went to the floor and, once again, up to my throat. It reminded me, in shape and color, of a potato sack.

"Sirius! This is worse than James's!"

The boys glanced at eachother. "We like it."

"Yeah. It will prevent boys from looking lustfully at you. You don't want that, do you? You're like out little sister. We are watching out for you."

"I don't want guys to think I am a hideous five-year old school marm, either."

"I don't like it," said Peter abruptly. "Try mine."

Back in the fitting room, I tore off the potato dress and slipped into the one Peter had chosen. When I looked in the mirror, I didn't know who was looking back at me. Was my waist really that tiny? And dang... I had legs. It was a little black dress made of plain cotton, going just to my knees. Casual, yet brilliant. I stepped out of the stall.

James and Sirius hestitated. "It's... pretty. But it makes your legs look really long."

"And you're skinnier in it."

I rolled my eyes. "I really don't see the problem here."

James gave me a serious look. "You look like a harlot."

I snorted. "Do not! It goes to my knees and I barely have cleavage in it--"

Sirius and James had slapped their hands over their ears at the word "cleavage."

Peter looked confused. "I think she looks hot."

"Thank you, Peter. I'm buying this one."

And I did.

The next morning, I showed up in the Gryffindor boy's dormitory all dressed and ready to go.

"WAKE UP! It's Hogsmeade day!"

The boys all groaned. Sirius growled, "Remus, you need to stop giving her the Gryffindor passwords."

"But who would wake you up?" I asked innocently.

"Exactly.

Remus sat up and looked at me. Stared, more like. "What are you wearing?"

"A dress! You like?" I spun in a circle, swishing the skirt for full effect.

"I didn't know you owned a dress."

"Don't you remember? Last night, with Mrs. Falkis and me going to Hogsmeade?"

"I don't remember a thing. My mum's muggleborn, and she insists I take Benadryl for my allergies. It knocks me out, and I can't remember a thing from last night. Except sneezing. And Benadryl."

James rolled his eyes. "He was up half the night shouting show tunes and challenging us to thumb-wrestling tournaments. Then he started howling at the moon. It was bloody frightening."

Remus was still staring at me. He was glaring at me a bit, actually.

"Well, I bought a dress, and I'm wearing it. What do you think?"

"It's alright."

My face fell. "Oh. Ok." Awkward pause. "Well, I'll see you all at breakfast." I turned and walked out, confused. I wasn't sure exactly what I'd done to upset Remus.

When I got to the Great Hall, I took up my new seat at the Hufflepuff table next to Owen. He turned to me to say happy morning, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow," he said. "You look beautiful today."

"Thanks," I teased, "But don't I every day?"

And why doesn't Remus think so?

**A/N!**


	6. The Date

**A/N: It took me awihle to make this one make sense. Enjoy.**

**The Date**

For all of the... three... total dates I'd been on in my life, you may find it surprising that I had never been to Madam Puddifoots before. Let's just say that the Marauders have always avoided the place... and now I know why.

When Owen and I walked in, the smell of Roses hit me like walking into a cloud of mosquitos with my mouth open. The decor was predictably pink and fluffy. I had never felt more girly... which is, I suppose, what I was going for that day. We were seated by a dwarf at a little table set for two next to the window. Couples all around us were huddled together, whispering sweet nothings. A few of them were unashamedly macking on eachother. Due to some combination of the cold September air outside and the cozy couples inside, the window was foggy and covered with dew, closing the small space in and making me feel as though I were intruding on someone else's private moment.

"Nice place," I said weakly.

"I thought you'd like it," he smiled. It was a charming smile. I could learn to like that smile. But something wasn't quite right. How did he honestly think I would like this place? It's like... a sappy Botecelli painting.

Another little dwarf run up to us. "Can I get you's something to drink?"

"Hmmm. What do you have?"

The dwarf croaked, "Sweet tea, Lemonade in strawberry, rhubarb, and raspberry, hot chocolate. Oh, and water."

"No butterbeer?" I asked. I felt stupid immediately when the dwarf frowned at me. Owen patted my back reassuringly, but it felt condescending. "We'll have sweet tea."The dwarf waddled away muttering.

"You'd think that there'd be more pleasant people at such a sappy place."

"Perhaps," he said. His short answer made me feel bad.

I tried to save myself. "Not that there's anything wrong with sappy. And I really think that the whole gruff dwarf thing adds to the apeal and charm of the place. Don't you agree?"

"Completely." This time he smiled. Good. I don't suck at this too bad.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the dwarf brought our drinks to us. I gasped in surprise before taking a sip.

"What's the matter?" Owen sounded concerned.

"Nothing... but... the tea... it's pink!"

He laughed, and something in the laugh was unpleasant. Patronizing. "Oh, yeah. Puddifoots always does that. Don't tell me you've never been here before."

I shrugged. "Oh? So you come here often?"

He nodded. "Pretty much every Hogsmeade visit."

"Hmm," was my reply. So if he was a seventh year, he must have been here twenty-odd times. And no one comes to Puddifoot's alone. That's twenty-odd girls. I feel special... not. "Excuse me... powder room." I got up and walked to the ladie's room.

It was painted pink, with pink roses and a little pink powder-puff chair in the corner. I sat in it, staring into the mirror. Of course I had known that Owen had seen a lot of girls. He was the finest guy in Hufflepuff, and probably in the school, after James, Sirius and Remus, of course. I had to leave out Peter.

But compared to most girls, I was really not that bad looking. In fact, I was kind of pretty, once I decided to put on a dress and a bit of mascara. But compared to the girls Owen is used to, I was a little unspectacular.

Maybe not, though. Maybe he's liked me all along, but he's asked out other girls out of boredum because he didn't have the courage to ask me! He does remind me of a blonde, wavy-haired James... maybe I'm his Lily! Yes, that seems like a much better explanation. I was only making things seem worse than they were out of nerves.

Reassured, I smiled at my reflection in the mirror, reapplied my lipgloss, and left the bathroom. I realized with some concern that Owen wasn't at the table he had been at when I left.

I glanced around, feeling slightly stupid, when I saw him at a corner table with Lisa and Elisa, Megan's cronies. Elisa was whispering something in his ear and he had some kind of stupid grin on his face. Lisa was giggling. I walked up to them and cleared my throat.

"Oh! Hey Lucy." He laughed. Elisa was still whispering in his ear. "Sorry, I'll be right back, if you want to wait at the table. She was just wondering about cha..charms," he stuttered.

Giving him the benefit fo the doubt... Elisa was pretty bad at charms, after all... we were both tutored by Lily. Elisa had probably just needed charms help. And Owen, being the nice guy he was, volunteered to sit on her lap and help her. So I went and waited at the table.

I only had to wait for about twenty minutes. I drank my tea, then drank his tea, then paid the check. And then I sat there. Finally, he came back to the table, leaving behind a very disappointed looking Lisa and Elisa. He smiled. "So, are you ready to head out? I have to stop by the The Pitch before we go back to the castle."

"Sure," I said. I followed him outside and down the muddy street. He took my hand. It was entirely unexpected, and I wasn't too sure I was ok with it. But after all, my hands were freezing. Besides, I loved The Pitch, Hogsmeade's quidditch shop. I had never been brave enough to try out for the Ravenclaw team, but I always helped James, Gryffindor's chaser; Sirius, the beater; and Remus, the keeper; practice during the summer. I loved to watch quidditch and was a huge supporter of the Irish. I just knew that someday, they would win the world cup, whether the guys believed me or not.

Walking into The Pitch was like a breath of familiarity on my so far botched date. Owen went to the counter to pick up some robes he was having altered while I headed to the wall that had a little section devoted to each of the Worldwide Quidditch Tournament teams. The Irish had very few followers, so their section was always really small. I went straight to the little green section of the shelf. There were Jerseys from O'Malley, Finnerdy, LeToole, Mince, Flannery, O'Brady, and Topsun, green with white trim, plus miniature models of each of the players that sat on little hovering broomsticks. There were also a couple firewhiskey shot glasses with "Fighting Irish" written on the side. I had observed them all, wondering when they'd get in those limited edition Shooting Star broomsticks with the team logo on the side, when I heard an extremely welcome voice.

"GOOSE!" Sirius nearly tackled me with a hug, followed by James, Peter, and Remus.

"I shoulda known I'd have found you boys in the quidditch shop." I grinned, ecstatic to see them.

"What happened to your date with Owen? Did it not go well?"

"Yeah, you were so excited!"

"Where is he?" They were all talking at once.

I laughed. "It was fine! He's over at the counter getting some robes for the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor game."

"Oh," James said grumpily. "Trying to get a one-up on us, is he?"

"They're just new robes, James. Nothing sinister."

"Here comes the wanker now."

Owen walked up beside me and smiled at the guys, a little defiantly. "Hello, Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew." I noticed that he left Sirius out of his greeting, probably because he had no doubt said "wanker" a bit too loudly.

"Dartmouth," the Gryffindors chorused back to him.

"Worrying about that game next Saturday?" James asked innocently.

"And why would I do that? Hufflepuff is at the top of our game this year. I made sure of that."

"Well, the top of Hufflepuff's game isn't exactly like the top of Mount Everest, is it?" Sirius said scathingly.

"Come on, Sirius. We don't need to insult him before we beat him... that just adds insult to injury."

Owen laughed coldly. "Dream on, Potter. The day you were named captain was a sorry day for Gryffindor indeed... you can't expect to win off from arrogance and dumb luck forever." And suddenly I felt like a traitor. On top of all that, Owen took my hand again. "Come on, Lucy. I've got what I came for, how would you like to come back to my common room and sit by the fire?"

"That would be--" but I didn't finish, he was already pulling me away. I glanced back apoligetically and smiled weakly over my shoulder. All four boys had their arms folded crossly as they stared after me.

**A/N: Poor Lucy... poor Marauders... poor me! Why, you may ask? Well, this might sound desperate, but I have more chapters than reviews, people. If I don't get two more by next chapter, I will kill all the Marauders off and make Lucy marry Owen. Because I am the authoress and I do what I want.**


	7. The Prick Redeemed

**A/N: My story is starting to confuse me. In the next chapter, I think there will have to be some serious explanations. Lucy is just a complicated character. I think maybe you got the impression in the last chapter that Owen is an Arrogant Berk. Capitalized. And he was a jerk to the Marauders. And to Lucy. But I decided that I still want her to be dating him. so... here we go. Maybe this chapter will help redeem him some.**

**The Prick Redeemed**

I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as Owen led me back to the Hufflepuff common room. I hadn't actually betrayed them, but by just standing there silently, and then leaving with the "enemy," I might as well have. Of course, it was just a silly quidditch rivalry that would be over as soon as the game was. But still, Owen's snideness was a bit uncalled for.

But then again, the Marauders hadn't been saints. They had egged him on just as much when they knew I liked this guy. Which is perhaps why I had followed Owen out.

And he was still a total dish.

I realized that I hadn't really been trying. For all I knew Owen was a really great guy. I mean, he couldn't just be adorable. There had to be something behind those baby blues. I had, of course, forgotten briefly about Lisa and Elisa being all over him at Puddifoots. But could he really help it? I knew from being best friends with four guys that if two girls that pretty flirt, you flirt back. Not his fault. Perhaps it was even my fault for being so unappealing. After all, the Marauders had all reacted negatively to my dress, even Remus, who was the most honest of all of them.

"You're quiet." He had scared me.

"Oh, I was just-"

"Worried about your friends? It's okay, it's just a stupid quidditch thing. Dont worry yourself over it."

"Oh, yeah." Brilliant conversationalist, I am. And then of course it started to rain. Not the nice, warm, romantic rain with big drops, but the misty kind of sprinkle that seeps coldy through your clothing and isn't any fun at all.

"Come on," he said, pulling me a little faster behind him. We reached the front step of the castle a few moments later and he led me down this corridor I didn't recognize and up a few flights of stairs. We stopped at a large portrait of a woman that was suspiciously familiar.

"Is that the Fat Lady?" I whispered. But the portrait heard me.

"Oh!" she said indignantly. "It's always about her. My twin sister. She was the Gryffindor, the one mom and dad were proud of! And I was the forgotten one, the mere Hufflepuff! Well, there's nothing wrong with being normal! We can't all be heroes!"

"I- I'm so sorry!" I stuttered. "I didn't mean anything by it. You, you just look so much like her. But you are thinner than her. And your hair... what luster!"

The "Not-quite-so-Fat-Lady" blushed a little. "Well, thank you. I have been told that I aged better than her."

"But Miriam, you haven't aged at all!" Owen put on that charming smile. Oh yes... now I recall why I went out with him.

Miriam blushed even brighter.

"Well, I think Lucy and I should be going in now."

"Oh, of course," said Miriam. The portrait swung forward to reveal a glass door.

When we'd stepped through, I whispered again to Owen, making sure the portrait didn't hear this time. "Nice work. She didn't even ask for the password or realize that I'm a Ravenclaw."

"Oh, we don't have a password. Hufflepuff has always been accepting of anyone, so a password isn't necessary."

"Interesting."

"Isn't it? We have a fascinating history, whether it's told or not by the other houses..." He went off on some tangent about his house while I paused to take in the common room. It was painted a pale, corn-yellow color, with comfortable furnishings. Above the merry fire was a large black banner sporting a yellow badger. He led me to the black floral sofa near the fire and we sat down. I stared out the arched window at the rain, which was coming down in diagonal sheets now. I would bet my bludger arm that the Marauders had taken the secret passage from the Honeyduke's cellar to avoid walking back in the rain.

But then I realized I'd been ignoring Owen for the past... 10 minutes. I swore that I'd listen to him now.

"Don't you think?" he was asking.

I had no clue what he was talking about, but I went with agreeing. I nodded. "Oh, of course?"

"I thought so too. But Luce... you're all wet! I'll get you a blanket and some tea, hold on." How very thoughtful of him. He returned a few moments later with the promised provisions and threw the blanket around me us, scootching closer so it would go around us both.

I knew how this game went. Sure, I hadn't had many dates myself, but honestly, I was friends with Sirius Black! My move was next. I shivered convincingly so he would put his arm around me. Then Owen stroked my arm absentmindedly as we talked about quidditch and Hogsmeade. Then there was a pause in the conversation as we stared into the fire, and then he kissed me. And then we did a bit more kissing.

It happened just the way things happen on dates. There was nothing bad at all about kissing. He wasn't brilliant, of course, but I didn't have much to compare it to.

After we had drank our tea and snogged a little, he walked me back to my common room. "Thanks Owen, I had a lovely time."

"I'm glad. Maybe we could hang out again tomorrow?"

"I would like that." I really would. After the whole Elisa/Lisa Puddifoots episode was finished and the Marauders thing was done, it turned out to be a pretty ok date.

He walked away with a smile. So I must have been pretty ok too.

I sat in my empty dorm room for a little while before I was just so antsy I had to get up. I realized that what I really wanted to do was tell the Marauders about my date. I was sure they'd be back by now.

I sprinted to their common room and said the password. "Sorry," said that fat lady. The password changed this afternoon."

"Oh." I hadn't gotten the new one from Remus yet. "Drat." But to my luck, the Marauders came strolling around the corner that very minute. "Hey guys! The pass changed and I haven't had the chance to get it from you yet. You know it, right?"

The Marauders looked at Remus uncomfortably. He cleared his throat. "I have, but I'm not really supposed to tell you."

I laughed. "That's never stopped you before."

He didn't laugh. "Well, you're not really a Gryffindor. You're a Ravenclaw. I shouldn't be giving you the passwords. You want me to lose my Head Boy badge because I'm flippant with the password?"

"Of course not, but I thought..."

"I can't tell you because you're not a Gryffindor." Then he turned, muttered something to the portrait, and climbed through the hole. The others followed without even looking at me.

I just stood there looking dumbstruck, feeling worse than I'd ever felt.


	8. The Wankers of Hogwarts

**A/N: I was in a hurry to get this out and didn't really edit that much, so I apologize in adavance for mechanics errors and such. But it's a good chapter!**

**The Wankers of Hogwarts**

It was the Saturday following the big disaster. Not that my date was a disaster, more like the following part where the Marauders decided they didn't like me anymore and began to ignore me, which they would continue for the remainder of the week. Oh no, the date was fantastic. Luckily, or I would be sitting by myself for the whole week. I don't understand. When I tried to sit by the Marauders, they would spread out, taking up the bench where I'd usually sit. When I sat by Owen, they would shoot me dirty looks and mutter to each other. I'd had enough.

Which is why I was on a hunt. I had followed my prey from outside the Transfiguration corridor, down the stairway to the fourth floor corridor, and towards the Gryffindor common room. When he got to the intersection of the fourth floor corridor and the Charms hall, I pounced, shoving him behind the tapestry that I knew concealed a hidden passage. Once safely into the passage, I held my squealing prey at wandpoint.

"Peter Pettigrew! What is going on?"

"I-- I don't know--"

"Yes, you do, and you will tell me why the others are angry or I will curse off your goods. Clear?"

"Remus made me swear not--"

"PETE you will tell me or else!"

"OK ok I'll tell!"

I rolled my eyes when he started crying. "Well? Spit it out."

He took a deep breath. "James hates Owen and refuses to speak to him or anyone that associates with him after the comment he made about Jame's ego in the Pitch. Sirius hates Owen and refuses to speak to anyone who associates him since third year when Stephani Porter said Owen was the second dreamiest guy after James and left Sirius out. I hate Owen and refuse to speak to anyone who associates with him because I do everything they tell me."

Made sense so far. "What about Remus?"

"He says he's above such petty differences. I'm not really sure why he hates Owen and refuses to speak to anyone who associates with him."

"I see. Thanks Pete. You can go now, and don't tell anyone we've spoken."

"What if they hold me at wandpoint like you did?"

"Yeah, about that. You need to stop being such a Pansy." And with that I turned went on another hunt.

That's about when Mr. Dreamboat came up behind me and put his arms around me. I sighed. "Hullo Owen."

"Alright?" He smiled down at me.

"Yeah, just need to find Remus."

Owen sounded a bit put out when I said that. "Why do you need him?"

"Because he's a righteous prat and I want to hex him."

Owen seemed to approve of that answer. "You really shouldn't let them make you feel so bad. You don't deserve that. They don't think of anyone but themselves."

"Right." But I knew it wasn't right at all. I'd never really met anyone who took care of me like the Marauders, and no one was as selfless as Remus, especially towards his friends. I knew that they all really liked me and that we could get past this. I just had to figure out what was wrong with Remus and then fix everything. "Well, I'll see you later then."

"Not so fast. You said you would walk with me today."

Dratted, I had. Fine then. "Fine then." I realized that I often said exactly what I thought and that could be dangerous. What if I had said the "dratted" part? Owen might have been offended. I do enjoy spending time with him, although he's not quite the laugh that James is, or the dish that Sirius is, or the conversationalist that Remus is, or as easy to tease as Peter. Gosh I'm even missing that little rat. But he is a good snog, and that's what matters in a boyfriend, after all. I was starting to sound just like Sirius. And that, my friends, is an example of a tangent. Forgive me.

What was going on? Oh yes, we were going for a walk.

Owen took my hand and we moseyed our way to the front door of the castle. "Where would you like to go?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know, let's just take a turn about the grounds. It is almost nightfall after all and we don't want to be too close to the forest. Maybe around the lake?"

"Alright." We stepped out the door and were met by an icy burst of air. It was only part way through September, so this weather was just a travesty. I much preferred the heat. Luckily my hand was warm in Owen's, although a bit clammy. He turned and smiled at me. "Your nose is all red."

"That's because it's cold, dolt. And yours is too."

He self-consciously rubbed at his nose and I giggled at him. He frowned. "Oh, lighten up," I scolded.

He looked slightly offened by my tone. But seemed to get over it quickly enough. In fact, his mood changed quite suddenly as we rounded the far side of the lake and were out of direct view of the castle. He whirled me around and gave me a kiss smack on my lips.

"That was unexpected," I laughed. He smiled and pulled me up towards him, kissing me again, for a bit longer. I frowned. He was getting a bit... agressive. Oh, how awkward. He bit my lip in his fervor and it was a bit uncomfortable.

"Eh, Owen? Be careful, please, that lip was attached." So much for a good snog.

He looked at me for a moment before sighing and smiling sideways at me. "Sorry, guess I got a bit carried away. Is this better?" He gave me a sweet, slow kiss, and it was much better. I kissed back this time. His hand were moving around on my back and in my hair and it felt rather lovely.

But then, his hands began to wander a little lower. And a bit lower... and then lower still. "Owen!" I pulled away suddenly with a shriek.

"Did I misread the moment?" He asked dumbly.

"Your hands are not to go there, especially when we've been dating for a mere week!"

"Aw, Lucy, I'm sorry, I won't do it again."

"That's right, you won't. That was entirely inappropriate. Do you take me for a slut?"

"No," he said a bit sharply, "but I didn't take you for a prude either."

I stared at him with my mouth agape. "I am NOT a prude. Just because I'm not as easy as your stupid Hufflepuff girls--"

"Hey! That's my house you're talking about!"

"And that was my arse you just grabbed!"

"Oh, so you'll put out for the Marauders, but if us 'unworthy' men make a pass you shut us down?"

"I... I don't..." Then I realized that this had just gotten all too rediculous. I smacked Owen as soundly as I could manage and stormed back towards the castle. And to think I had thought him a gentleman!

I ran to the Gryffindor common room and began banging on the door. Coincidentally, the door was a portrait, and the fat lady was very displeased. "How dare you--"

"Oh, shut up, tart," I snapped. "I am not in the mood. Now let me in!" And the portrait, quite surprisingly, swung open. "That... that's it?"

The fat lady stuck her nose up at me. "The password just happens to be 'let me in' this week."

"Oh, how very original."

The fat lady just huffed, and slammed behind me when I had gone through. I didn't really care. I stormed up to the seventh year boys dorm and kicked the door open with surprising force. I took a moment to be impressed with myself, and to take in the sight of the stunned Marauders.

Before they had a moment to remeber they were ignoring me, I began to holler.

"Listen up, yous! I know we aren't really speaking, but Owen is a prat and I dumped him and you had bloody well comfort me RIGHT NOW!"

And they did. You have no idea how lovely it feels to be wrapped in the arms of four of the greatest guys in school at once. Why had I ever thought I needed Owen?

"We're proud of you, Goose. Owen was a bad loser. You were stupid to date him."

"Thanks, Sirius."

"What did he do to make you break up with him?" James asked.

"He, er, let his hands roam into no-man's-land."

They all stepped back looking irate. Remus was white as a sheet. "He _didn't_!"

"He did. And then he said I was a prude for pushing him away, but then he said I was a slut for sleeping with you lot."

"But you haven't. I think I'd recall that," said Peter.

"Yes, well, he was a lying wanker."

"Er, you're all right, though?" I turned to Remus, surprised by the level of concern in his voice. His brown eyes were searching my own very intently.

"Yes, now I am." I broke my gaze with him. "You lot being prats all week didn't make me feel any better, though."

"Yeah," they all looked sheepish. "We're really sorry about that." I noticed that Peter was glancing at Remus as he said this.

"Well," said James, "We were just about to go to... the library... before supper. So I guess we'll see you in the Great Hall in a few minutes then."

He had said this in a tone that I knew very well, and it suggested that he was not at all being honest with me. I was confirmed when I heard Peter say that he didn't know they were going to the library, he thought they were going straight to supper, and then saw Sirius elbow him. I decided not to press the matter, pleased just to be on speaking terms with them, and skipped off to dinner at my rightful spot at the Gryffindor table.

They arrived fifteen minutes later looking fakely nonchalant, although they couldn't fool me. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me what you were all up to in the 'library,' no?"

"Nope," Said Sirius through a mouthful of potatoes.

"We were reading books and stuff, what else do you do in libraries?" James offered.

Peter opened his mouth, no doubt to give something away, but James clapped his hand over Peter's mouth and continued to eat.

Remus just smiled to himself and asked me to pass the salt.

I looked up at the door when I heard it open and grinned hugely. "You didn't happen to run into Owen in the 'library,' did you?"

James smirked. "Where do you come up with these nutter ideas, Lucy? We were studying."

But Owen had just passed on the way to his table, scowling darkly. He bore several scars that looked like they'd come from muggle dueling, perhaps a four-on-one fight, and the word "Wanker" was tattoed across is forehead in permanent purple ink. The Marauders ate on innocently, but I saw Owen glare at them, fingering his wand as he passed. I smiled and dug into my supper, the most perfectly content that I had been in two weeks.

**A/N: Unless you are a writer yourself, you cannot possible understand the joy of a review. So please, for the sake of my happiness, go down and to your left and click the little gray-blue-purpley button. It says 'submit review.' on it. If you can't think of anything to say in your review, please copy and paste the following, which I have drafted for your benefit:**

**Hi, I am a reader and I love this story so much! It should recieve a Pulitzer for creative writing. And you sound like such an attractive person! So witty and deep! and probably beautiful! (Insert constructive criticism here). Please update quickly because my happiness is based off from it! **

**Thanks.**


	9. A Bewitched Halloween

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! I really appreciated them! This was a fun chapter to write, I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty good. I hope you enjoy it!**

**A Bewitched Halloween **

After another month of our usual fabulous living, the Marauders and I became suddenly aware that it was halfway through October. Most people would not have been so upset by this news, but the guys have upheld a sacred tradition of playing the most fabulous Halloween pranks in history. With everything that had happened thus far in their NEWT year, the month of October had approached quite sneaky-like.

We were sitting in the Great Hall, and Sirius was ready to pull out his hair. "What ever can we do? We have to be really careful this year, with Remus being head boy. But this is seventh year! It has to be... historical!"

Remus sighed. "We've been through this, and no one knows!"

James just stabbed at his lunch with a spork.

I found this odd. "James, where'd you get a spork?"

"Ablinkin, the house elf. We're good buddies and I mentioned to him how much I liked to eat with sporks. He's been setting my place with them ever since."

"I've never noticed."

"Well, it only happened yesterday, in the kitchens."

"Oh."

Remus furrowed his brow. "Why were you in the kitchen yesterday? You only go to the kitchen when... oh no!"

We all knew that his was serious. James only goes to the kitchens when he's planning a party, which we knew he wasn't, or when he had the munchies. And he only got the munchies when he was very depressed.

Sirius frowned. "I should have realized that you seem to be a little quieter than usual. You've hardly been trying to help with this prank."

I knew James was usually one of the biggest prank advocates ever. "Yeah, mate. What's eating at you?"

James sighed. "Lily Evans. Do you s'pose she'll ever go on a date with me?"

"Lily again?"

"Lily still."

We patted his back sympathetically. "It's alright, mate. You just need to do a little pranking. A good prank always sets you right."

"Maybe..."

Sirius stood up. "I know it's in you somewhere James! The perfect prank, one that will go down in the anals of Hogwarts!"

"I think you mean 'annals,' Sirius--"

"Shut up, Remus. So, James, what do you say?"

He looked thoughtful, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. It perfectly reflected the weather outside, blue-skyed and unusually warm for October, especially after a cold and rainy September. "How do you suppose they make the ceiling do that? It can't be easy, or more ceilings would look like that. It would be a tricky bit of transfiguration."

"James... James, I think you have an idea..."

He smiled quietly. "I think I do too."

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Halloween morning dawned quite as warm and sunny as the rest of the month had been. As a result, the students were quite surprised to walk into the Great Hall and find that the enchanted ceiling was snowing.

Owen Dartmouth looked at his friends and frowned. "The ceiling must be broken."

Megan Carrows, his new girlfriend, frowned. "I hope it doesn't melt all over and muss my make-up." But what they soon realized was that the snow was enchanted snow, and was quite warm and dry, and didn't melt at all.

"Strange," said Lisa.

"I love the snow," said Elisa. She tipped her head back and caught a snowflake on her tongue.

Not a second later, she burst out into song.

Megan looked quite embarassed at her friend. "Elisa! Shut up! What is the matter with you?"

But Elisa found that she could not stop singing Celestina Warbeck's top hits at the top of her lungs and had to be escorted to the hospital wing.

Throughout the day, several more students made the mistake of eating the enchanted snow. Three were stuck singing, seven were uncontrollably tapdancing, and two were unable to speak anything but rhyming sonnets. As a result, someone wandering into the hospital wing may have thought they had stumbled unknowingly into a Broadway production. Another eight students had eaten snowflakes spiked with love potions and found themselves uncontrollably infatuated with Professor McGonagall, professing their undying affection to her loudly at lunch.

It only took a few minutes for professor Dumbledore to realize what was causing the mayhem and make a public announcement that students must not eat the snow. A few hours after that, the clouds had begun to spread into the halls so that the entire castle was affected by the strange weather pattern, causing snowball fights to break out in classrooms. Finally, the situation had gotten so serious that classes were cancelled as the headmaster declared Hogwarts's first ever snowday.

The Marauders went about their business innocently, and although everyone secretly suspected that they were to blame in some way for the day's strange events, no one made an accusation. In fact, the person who ended up with a month of detentions for the episode was surprisingly Owen, after _priori incantem_ proved that his wand was the one who had cast the charms. He protested for quite some time, claiming that he had been framed. Of course, no one would believe that sweet little Lucy Brown was an accomplished pickpocket and had stolen his wand to do the deed. They also failed to realize that Remus was the only one who could pull off a charm that complicated, and no one stopped to think that Owen might not be that talented.

By the end of the day, the professors had figured out how to vanish the snowing clouds and the drifts that had accumulated in the hallways. The students were put back to normal and the hospital wing was quiet and still once again. When they all came in for supper, the ceiling of the great hall shown a clear midnight blue, scattered with stars.

mwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwppmwp

The Marauders and I had ourselves a good laugh at dinner. It was surely the most talked about prank we'd ever pulled, and we couldn't help but feel largely accomplished, especially since we'd gotten off scot free.

"Well mates," said Sirius triumphantly, "It's been another successful Halloween."

And with that we all tucked into our food. Except James. While he had been throwing his heart and soul into this project, now that it was over, he felt a bit empty. He really had little to look forward to now, as Lily Evans would never consent to liking him. In fact, she would hardly look at him. So instead, he looked at her. I couldn't help but feel sad. He looked at her as though she were the most lovely thing he had ever seen, and I couldn't help but wish that someone would look at me that way.

I hadn't really thought to turn around and see that someone was.

"Cheer up, James mate," I said.

"I can't, I feel terrible. I know Lily. I should have remembered how she always likes to catch snowflakes on her tongue."

Sirius laughed. "Oh no! Was she a singing one or a dancing one?"

"Worse," James sighed. "She was one of the ones who proclamed her love to Professor McGonagall."

We burst into laughter. "Honestly James. You can't possibly be jealous of the Professor because Lily was bewitched into thinking she loved her."

"I know. Maybe I should bewitch her into thinking she loves me."

Remus, sitting on my other side, leaned forward and gave James a sympathetic smile. "You know that's not right, mate. She'll come around in time."

"Yeah..." James sighed, unbelieving.

"Really, she might," I said. I leaned back and looked at the ceiling. Thousands of stars twinkled in the velvety sky, congratulating us on a job well done. I grinned and turned to Remus. "It's my favorite, like this."

"Hmm?" he asked, looking up with me.

"When the sky is dark and sparkley and perfect like this. I think it's so lovely."

"Lovely," he echoed. He leaned back on the bench and looked at the ceiling with me.

"I wish the sky never changed. I think it's the best like this."

He chuckled at me. "But then it would always be dark. Hard to play quidditch."

"So?" but he had a point.

"Anyway, you also say you love thunderstorms, and you said you love rain--"

"Only the big fat drops."

"And you said you loved the sunshine because it makes you sleepy."

"Fine, fine! I love weather in general."

"Which is good, because there is always weather everyday." Always the logical one, Remus.

"But I think... I really think that a starry night sky is my favorite of all of them."

He was quiet for a moment. "Mine too.

"Unless, of course, there's a full moon. I bet you don't like that."

He laughed again.

After dinner, we all went up to the Gryffindor common room to play exploding snap for an hour or so before bed. I beat Peter, but James and Sirius both beat me. I watched the championship round, where James was triumphant. The usual Marauder exploding snap championship rules were in place, so the loser, Sirius, had to get down on one knee and propose to James.

"I, Sirius Black, in full awareness that I am not worthy to be in the presence of the most amazing James Potter, beg that he not think too little of me, and consents to take my hand in marriage, because I am deeply in love with his awesomeness."

James pretended to consider him for a moment. "No. I could never be with anyone so homely and bad at exploding snap. Plus, my heart belongs to Lily Evans."

Peter and I laughed heartily.

James laughed too, while Sirius just looked sore. "It's usually Moony who has to propose to Prongs. He's much better with words than I am."

"Where is Remus, by the way?" I asked casually. What am I saying? Of course I asked casually! How else would I ask?

"He's probably in the library. He's a bit stressed with NEWTS this year and all."

"Oh."

We played another round of snap, which ended with me proposing to James, and then I really felt tired.

"Well, I'm heading out. Goodnight, guys!"

"Night, Goosey!"

I dragged myself across the school and to my common room door and knocked. The raven door-knocker spoke. "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" it asked.

"I am much too tired to think right now."

"Then you can't come in!"

"Fine, fine. Is it an African or European swallow?"

"Well... I... I don't know..."

"Then it is an unanswerable question."

"Well reasoned," spake the raven, and the door swung open.

"Nice cover," I jested.

"Hey!" shouted the raven after me, "I'm tired too!"

I sludged up the stairs in my exhaustion. The day had been fabulous, but tiring in it's length. My bed had rarely sounded so good. I swung the door of my dormitory open. My roommates were standing just inside, gathered and gaping in confusion, and took a moment to notice I was there. They were whispering things to each other in excitement. "How did it happen?" "Who did it?"

Melanie noticed me first. "Oh, Lucy!" she breathed. "Isn't it the most lovely thing?"

I stepped out of the doorway and looked at the high arched ceiling, a thousand stars winking back at me, finally seeing what they were in such a fuss about. I smiled to myself. Someone had bewitched the ceiling to look like the night sky.

"Lovely," I echoed.

"I know it was a Marauder, wasn't it Lucy? They were behind what happened today, I know it! So they probably did this to our room." I knew Melanie was thinking of Sirius, her hearthrob.

Susan shook her head. "I'll bet it was James. He's so good at transfiguration. You know he has the top marks for that class."

I cleared my throat. "I don't pretend for a moment to know who was responsible for today's prank, but I think this--" I waved my hand at the ceiling, "is the work of Remus Lupin. Now, I'm tired, and going to bed, so if you wouldn't mind piping down..." I strode to my bed, took off my shoes, and snuggled under the covers, still in my uniform.

I could hear the other whispering when I closed my eyes. Melanie was insisting it was Sirius, and saying that I didn't know what I was talking about. Susan kept arguing that James was much better at transfiguration. Melanie called her thick because it was common knowledge that James was in love with Lily Evans, so why would he bewitch the ceiling for Susan? Sirius did it, because Sirius fancied Melanie.

Meanwhile, I slipped off to a peaceful sleep, the light of a thousand twinkling stars reflected on my face.


	10. Loyalty Questioned

**A/N: I know this is the longest I've gone without updating, so I though I'd get this up really fast (per request of Pennylane). I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do at the moment. Long story short- my boyfriend dumped me so I've been keeping myself really busy to get my mind off him, and that means not much writing. But I'll do better from now on out, I promise!**

**Loyalty Questioned**

The next day, I woke up rather confused because the sky was much too dark for the time displayed on my bedside clock. Then I remembered, with a smile, that my ceiling was enchanted to be forever a sparkley nighttime. My room mates were all still dozing away in the dark, but being a morning person, I bounced out of bed and tip-toed to the stairs in my pajamas and headed for the Gryffindor dormitories.

The boys were sleeping off yesterday's excitement. I sighed. It was still only 6:00 am, after all. I didn't want to go back to my room, because I was already awake and didn't want to be lonely. But I didn't want to wake them up. They looked so happy and peaceful... and peace is not a state that occurs with the Marauders very often. So I creaped to the nearest bed, which belonged to Sirius, who was without a doubt the hardest sleeper of the four, and slipped under the covers with him, snuggling with a pillow.

It was so cozy that I had dozed off within moments, dreaming about enchanted snow that made the floor turn midnight-blue with stars.

It was a rather awkward to wake up to the bewildered faces of James, Remus, and Peter, with Sirius's arms wrapped tightly around me. I growled and pried him off, muttering, "I am not your teddy bear." He didn't wake.

I slid out of bed and exchaged awkward looks with the Marauders. It was Peter who broke the ice. "Not too often you see a girl getting out of Sirius's bed with her knickers still on."

And we all had a good chuckle. "Yeah, I was awake, but didn't want to wake you all, so I just decided to crash in here."

"I hope you didn't get diseased. Most girls who sleep with Sirius get diseased," offered James.

"Ha ha." Please note the satire.

"Let's go to breakfast," Remus said, standing abruptly. He was pursing his lips in that head boy stern way he has sometimes when he lectures.

Of course, I wondered what I could have possibly done to upset him this time. When we walked out, I tapped him on the arm so he turned and looked at me. I smiled apoligetically for whatever it was that had upset him. "Hey, thanks for doing that to my room... we love it.""

"We?"

"Oh... yes, me and the girls in my dorm."

"I just did it for you."

My stomach flipped over. "I... I know. I'm just saying, we all liked it. So thanks."

His face started to soften a bit from its tight frown. "No problem."

He seemed considerably cheered up from what I could tell, so we headed off to breakfast with the others. While we were sitting at the long Gryffindor tables, Mark Davies, captain of the Ravenclaw team, strode up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. "A word, please, Brown?"

"Sure," I said, bouncing up from the table and following him into the hall.

He turned to face me, looking rather serious. I giggled.

"Something funny?" he frowned.

"Oh, no," I said, attempting to sound serious, too, "You just frowned exactly like Remus... well, I don't know what's up with you serious Hogwarts boys today."

"Oh, haha," he said, sounding rather unamused. "Listen, Angie Bennett splinched the left side of her face off in apparition lessons and is in St. Mungos to get it healed."

I stopped laughing. "Oh... that-- that's not funny at all."

"Right. But anyway, she was one of our best chasers, and we need a replacement for the Gryffindor game the week after this one. Now, your loyalty to your house is a bit questionable, but I've seen you practising out at the pitch with James Potter and the boys and you're good. Can you do it?"

"Oh, sure. I suppose." Not only could I do it, I was super excited! Playing quidditch for the team and not even trying out? Fantabulous.

"But just to get one thing clear, I know you're pretty much a house traitor, but you're the best we have and I need you to be loyal to Ravenclaw for this one game, can you do that?"

I turned my nose up indignantly. "Of course."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "See you in practice Tuesday."

"Alright."

I practically bounded into the Great Hall, then I jumped onto the bench at a run so I slid down its entire length and bumped into Remus, toppling onto the table. The Marauders applauded as I brushed bits of scrambled egg from my robes. I didn't care. "But really, you guys, you will applaud much more when you hear my news.

Remus was frowning tersely again. "You were in the hall a long time... was Davies asking you out?"

I rolled my eyes. "Davies is twice the professor-type you are, Remus. I wouldn't date such a depressing person. I have fantastic news! Angie Bennett splinched her face!"

Peter looked concerned. "And... that makes you happy?"

"'Course it does," mumbled Sirius through a mouthful of toast. "Angie was a fox when she had her whole face, now Lucy-Goose has less competition."

"Shut up, that's not why. Well, yes, but besides that. She was a Ravenclaw chaser, and I'm her replacement!"

"Awesome!" shouted Peter.

James thumped him on the head with a fist. "NOT awesome. You're playing against us?"

"I'm a Ravenclaw, remember? I am just happy to be playing at all. Be happy for me?"

They stared skeptically for a moment. "Marauder huddle!" delcared James.

I rolled my eyes as they all went into a huddle, muttering about me. I knew for a fact that they weren't actually talking. A Marauder huddle is more of a formality for making decisions. They just whisper nonsense, trying to sound important. After a few moments they stood up straight and Sirius nodded. "We've decided that we're happy for you, but sad for you because you know that we are going to beat the living--"

"Sirius!"

"Uhh... poo out of your team." he finished.

I grinned. "Bring it on."

**A/N: And I'm sad because I've been dumped! SO review an extra lot to make me happy!**


	11. Love Spell

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, very distracted. Please like!**

**Love Spell**

"Ok, James. We need to get you through this Lily thing because your moping is driving us nuts, and if you don't get over your munchies, you are going to get fat."

James moaned at me. "It won't work. Nothing will work. I've tried everything." He flopped down onto his back on the frosty grass under the big tree by the lake.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, have you tried being subtle, flirtatious in a non-obvious way, making her feel special and wanted? Have you tried being friends with her and getting to know her? Have you tried letting her get to know you?"

"No."

"Well what have you tried?"

"I tried asking her out a few times. I quoted poetry. I sent her ten dozen roses and a set of naughty lingerie by means of singing dwarf telegram."

"Well, there's your problem." I stood up, took his hand, and pulled him off the grass. "Let's make a plan. I promise you, women really aren't that complicated. How hard is it to say 'you're pretty' and give us chocolate?"

"Harder than you'd think."

"Naw, you just need a coach. Come on, Prongs. We are going to woo Miss Lily Evans."

MWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPM

"Oy, Evans, a word please?"

Lily looked up at James apprehensively. "What is it now, Potter?"

James just looked at her a little cross-eyed. He had obviously caught a whiff of her perfume, a mix of some kind of flower with some kind of fruit that he hadn't been able to identify to me. _Come on James, like we practiced... ignore the perfume and say your line!_

James shook his head a little, as though he were trying to get water out of his ears. He cleared his throat and said very mechanically, "Can I escort you to the hall for a quick conversation?"

Lily seemed to be caught off guard by his strange behavior and said "I suppose" before she really had a chance to think about it. They both stood there for a moment, unsure as to what just happened, before she got up and followed him to the hall, looking bewildered.

"So what's this about, James? You're acting so strangely."

James cleared his throat. "Evans, I know we haven't always gotten along like the best of chums—" (Lily snorted) "—but I was wondering if maybe we could put the past behind us and be friends? I'd like it if you didn't hate me. And I'm sorry I am a bigheaded toe-rag. Here is a book." James thrust a heavy book into her face and she took it, looking more bewildered than ever.

"'Charm Theory: How to Increase Spell Power Through Simple Technique.' Oh Potter, I've been wanting this book for ages!"

"I know," he replied simply.

"But… it must have cost a fortune. I really can't accept this," she slowly pushed the book at him, but he shook his head.

"The Potters are rich, remember? Think of it as a peace offering."

She looked skeptical, but on top of that, giving the book back was really the last thing she wanted to do. "I really don't know how to thank—"

James cut her off. "Oh, but I've already thought of that." He smirked.

She frowned, disappointed. "I should have known there would be a catch."

"Yes. In return for the gift—"

"'Gifts' are usually, free, Potter—"

"--You allow me to call you Lily, and you call me James. It's really what friends do."

She sighed. "I don't know about 'friends' Potter."

He smiled hopefully. "Friendly acquaintances?"

"How about 'tolerances'?"

James looked thoughtful before nodding. "I'll take what I can get. Now, there's just one more thing I need to ask."

"Catch number two, huh?"

"Would you please tell me what your perfume is?"

Lily was taken aback by his random question. "It's, uh, lovespell. I don't know what's in it."

He smiled. "Thank you _Lily_."

She rolled her eyes. "You're welcome _James_."

He just smiled in an incandescently vacant manner for a moment, relishing the sound of his name from her lips. But then, rather suddenly, he gasped, hugged her victoriously, and sprinted from the hallway, leaving a most curiously confused Lily Evans in his wake.

MWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWP

James burst into the dorm after lunch, startling Remus, Peter, and Sirius, and I, who all jumped about a foot in the air. Remus dropped his potion scales, which he had been hunched over in deep concentration before James's grand entrance. James paid no attention to the mess of smashed scales, or the glares of his roommates and myself. "I've fixed it I've fixed it I've fixed it!!!!!" He shouted, leaping about like a forest pixie.

"Whatever it is, I hope you can fix my scales, too," Remus remarked dryly.

"Oh, hush, peasants. The Great James Potter has solved a mystery! It's not my fault that I'm hopelessly in love with Lily Evans!"

"Well, whoever's fault it is should be punished for disturbing the peace so often."

"Peasants! That treacherous minx has been bewitching me by means of a love potion!"

We all stared at him blankly.

He waved his arms like a lunatic. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS?! I don't have to try to woo her! I just have to find the antidote and be done with this for good!"

I laughed and shook my head. "How do you figure?"

"She _told_ me. I asked her what her perfume was, and she said "It's a love spell."

"Are you sure she didn't just say 'it's lovespell'? Because that would mean something entirely different."

"No, she said 'it's A love spell.' I'm sure."

"Maybe she said 'it's, UH, lovespell. Could that be it?"

"Umm, maybe, I suppose. But what difference does it make?"

"Well, Lovespell is a muggle perfume by Victoria's Secret. It's a scent, not an actual spell. There's no magical affect at all. Lily's a muggleborn, so there's a good possibility that she would be wearing such a popular scent. If she said 'it's, uh, lovespell,' then that's probably what she meant. It doesn't seem likely at all that she said 'it's a love spell,' because Lily's a pretty rule-oriented girl, and most love spells and potions are illegal. Besides, why would she admit to using a love spell on you to your face? Especially if she supposedly hates you?"

James's face fell. "Hmm… I reckon that makes sense."

I tried to comfort him. "Besides, do honestly, deep down, _not_ want to be in love with Lily?"

He shook his head. "I suppose she was pretty civil today. Even if she thinks I'm a lunatic now, that's progress. And besides… there's just something nice about having someone to think about all day. I like liking Lily."

"Well, there you go," I said. "We'll just have to redouble our efforts."

James nodded, a determined look working its way on to his face.

Sirius bounced on his bed. "If this works, Lucy-goose, maybe you can find a girl for me."

Peter looked confused. "But, you have, like three."

Sirius scrunched his nose. "I mean, like, not whores. Girls I can take home to mommy. Well, James's mommy, anyway."

"Actually, I was thinking Remus."

Sirius dropped his jaw. "But I don't want to date Remus. And he's already met James's mum."

I rolled my eyes. "I meant that I'm finding Remus a girl next."

Remus looked up from his pile of broken scales. "That's really not necessary."

I got down to help him with the mess. "Yes it is. You need a girl too, you can't be lonely forever."

"But any girl would eventually have to find out about—"

"We'll just find one that won't care, or she's not worth it."

"I'm just not interested," he snapped.

I smirked at him. "Oh? Already have someone in mind for yourself? Tell us who!"

"It's not—" he turned a faint shade of pink and rubbed the back of his neck. "Umm, I have to go to the library."

And with that he stood up and walked quickly from the room, all of us staring after him.

A look of comprehension dawned on Sirius's face. "You know? Maybe he's gay."

We all chucked pillows at him.

**A/N: Review por favor.**


	12. The Faceoff

**A/N: Not very long, but I'm in the end of semester crunch and am just kind of getting out what I can, when I can. Have to leave for class, no time to edit, sorry!**

**The Face-off**

The Saturday of the Ravenclaw v. Gryffindor match dawned bright and clear. I was frightened so I couldn't even swallow my breakfast toast, and James wasn't helping.

"The first game is the roughest," James told me. "And we won't go easy one you. Yup… our team is primed, and we're going to focus mainly on you because you're the weak spot. So good luck. But not really." He strode off with that cocky, quidditch strut he always adopts on game days. I stared after him with my jaw dropped, unable to believe he'd be that cruel.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around. It was Remus, and he gave me an encouraging smile. "James didn't mean it. He told the whole team at practice yesterday that you were good and to treat you like any member of the team, and not to play dirty in this game especially for your sake. He just had to say that because Davies was standing behind you."

"I'm still going to score one on you for that comment."

"Ha! Bring it on, Brown!"

The easy banter helped settle me down. This was just another practice against the boys.

I met Davies and the team in the locker room and robed up nervously while listening to his pre-game pep-talk.

"Ok, mates. This is the big one, because we know we can take Slytherin and Hufflepuff if we beat Gryffindor. Now I know we haven't got our usual line-up, but play like nothing's changed. Lucy, are you ready?"

I nodded. "I'm going to kill Potter."

"Fabulous news. Alright everyone, now let's go!"

A rush went though me as we walked onto the sunny pitch to the roar of the crowd. I grinned and waved, thinking that if it weren't for my skin I'd fly a million directions at once… if that makes any sense. I glanced to my side and saw Megan, Lisa, Elisa and two other Gryffindor girls dressed in little skirts and chanting something to the crowd. I leaned in to hear what they were shouting.

"Red and gold we rule the pitch!

Come on Potter, catch that snitch!"

They bounced up and down, screaming. I rolled my eyes. Cheerleaders.

I saw the Gryffindor team enter at the other end of the pitch. I nearly waved hello, but caught Davies's death glare and decided against it. James wouldn't make eye contact. Sirius winked at me though, so I felt a bit better. Remus was rubbing a fingerprint off his broomstick and didn't see me.

The two teams met in the middle, and the captains had to shake hands. I could see James grinding his teeth like he does when writing potions essays, and Davies giving him a curt, businesslike nod before they shook hands. We all mounted our brooms, and at the count of the referee, we were off.

I didn't have a moment to breathe from the time the game started. Davies caught the quaffle right away and sped off towards the rings at the far end, where I could see Remus hovering and ready. I sped off towards them and hovered by the far left hoop. Davies was about to score when he faked and passed to me. I caught it and tossed it through the ring. The Ravenclaw side of the stands went wild. Remus looked stunned, having not noticed me on the side. I stuck my tongue out at him, hoping to make light of the situation, and he shrugged, half-grinning. Then Davies hollered at me and I realized there was still a game going on.

It was a pretty even game, the scoring going back and forth between the two teams. I made three shots, which I was quite proud of.

The only thing I wasn't enjoying about the game was the cheerleaders, who were becoming a bit obnoxious; although to their credit, Sirius missed me with a bludger because he was too busy drooling over them. James threw a fit and whispered something to Gryffindor's other beater, who in response shot a bludger at the offending cheerleaders, causing them to scatter, shrieking. Sirius snapped back into the game with a sheepish look at his captain.

The game ended abruptly. Ravenclaw had just taken the lead by ten points, but James caught the snitch, ending play with Gryffindor 140 points ahead. I secretly wanted to cheer, but tried to look disappointed as we shook hands with the other team. Davies looked bummed, but still clapped me on the back. "You did alright, Brown. Nice play." I glowed.

"Hear that, Potter? I played well."

"You know?" James said, "I don't mind, as we still won."

A moment later, the cheerleaders popped up out of no where and started hugging the quidditch players. Megan noticed that I was standing so close to James and came over to guard her territory.

"You know, Brown, we wrote a couple special cheers just for you." She had that venomous voice girls get when they're being nasty mean and trying to sound innocent at the same time.

I brushed her tone off, curious. "Really? How thoughtful of you."

She smiled, fake-sweetly. "Girls!" she shouted, and her cheerleaders lined up beside her. They started chanting again, and everyone turned to watch.

"Remus Lupin, catch the quaffle!

Lucy Brown we think you're awful!"

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Lovely, girls, that was really clever. Did you write it yourselves? Rhyming 'awful' and 'quaffle'… very inspired."

Megan narrowed her eyes. "Wanna hear what else we can rhyme?"

"Cat and bat? Bog and Fog? Orange with door-hinge? Now that would be impressive…" They cut me off with another cheer.

"Potter's gonna catch the snitch

And we think Lucy Brown's a—"

A bludger came out of no where and knocked her to the ground. I saw Sirius leaning against the stadium bearings behind her, swinging his beater bat and whistling innocently. Everyone burst out laughing and we walked away together, leaving Megan in a dusty mess, wailing at Lisa and Elisa to call Madam Pomphrey.

**A/N: Sorry it was so short, please review anyway?**


	13. Planning and Smiling Rediculousness

**A/N: Good news! Even though this is short don't fear! My finals are done, I'm back with my boyfriend, life is good, and that means... like a bunch of updates! Happy ones! Daaaang, mood swing!**

**Planning and Smiling Rediculousness**

Everyone was inside on a blustery December Tuesday in an effort to ignore the gale force freezing wind outside. It was the most miserable snow storm in anyone's memory. Since Sirius was serving detention for the whole Megan-bludger incident, the rest of us actually had the chance to get some work done. Remus was furiously annotating a complicated-looking arithmancy book, with the same pained-tired expression he gets right before a full moon, except this time it was related to the seven NEWT level courses that were beginning to wear on him. James was helping Peter with a non-verbal transfiguration spell, and I was watching with amusement.

Peter had his face screwed up in order to perform the spell. It gave onlookers the impression that he was rather constipated.

"Pete," I laughed, "You've got the idea… now try not to look like you're attempting to poop a fire crab."

James snorted and sparks flew from Peter's wand.

Remus made a "hmmmppphhh" noise of frustration at how loud we were being. We all fell quiet.

"Remus?" I asked tentatively. "Maybe you should take a break. I mean, it's almost Christmas hols, and you've been studying so hard. You know all your material."

He shrugged. "I have to work a lot harder than most people to make it in this world."

"But don't you want to play chess with me? Take a walk maybe, to clear your head?"

Remus looked up and seemed to consider my offer for a moment, but then he shrugged again and began scratching away with his quill once more.

"Oh no you don't." I grabbed his arm and dragged him to his feet. His quill went flying across the room.

"But… that chapter is going to be in our exams!"

"And it will still be there tomorrow. We are going to have some fun today." I laughed at Remus when he started to pout. "Honestly, would it kill you to loosen up?"

"Possibly. Where are we going?"

"To the bathroom."

"Why?"

"Because I have to go very badly. You can wait outside. Then afterwards, we will have fun."

I left him outside the bathroom door, walked in, and walked out after a moment. "The bathroom is closed for cleaning. Do you suppose you could tell me the password for the prefect bathroom? I have to go very, very badly."

He looked hesitant. "I'm really not supposed to—"

Time for the big guns, I thought. "But Remus, it's that time of month, and I really, _really_ need to go _now-_"

"Ok, ok! The password is 'mistletoe,' now please never mention your Aunt Flo again."

"My what?"

"You know… your perio-"

"EW! REMUS STOP!"

"YOU STARTED IT!"

"EW! Ok! We are so done here." I turned to go back to the common room.

Remus looked confused. "Didn't you need to use the bathroom?"

"Oh… no, I changed my mind."

I left him there, utterly flabbergasted, and headed towards the common room. I had work to do. But after a moment he followed me anyway.

It was very difficult to track down all the people I needed with Remus hovering over my shoulder asking questions.

"What is going on? What are you doing?"

"I am planning a party to get us all over this weather and studying. Now please, do your homework until I come get you. I need concentration."

He looked indignant and fell behind once again.

MWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPP

It only took a few hours to get everything settled and to hand out the invitations. The house elves helped me set up the food and then all there was left to do was to get dressed and to give an invite to the guest of honor.

I walked up to Remus and handed it to him. He raised an eyebrow and read it out loud.

"To my most esteemed guest: I am pleased to invite you to a luau Christmas party in honor of the horrible weather and to get Remus Lupin to stop studying. The party will be held in the prefect bathroom at 6:00pm this evening. The password is "mistletoe." Please bring a bathing suit and towel. Yours, Lucy Brown."

I grinned at him. "Coming? It's in your honor."

"Why the prefect's bathroom?" He puzzled over the invitation.

"Because the bathtub there is gigantic. If you don't add bubbles, it's really just a big pool. And what's a luau without a pool?"

"So we're just going swimming?"

"Well, and dancing and stuff. I hired a DJ and the house elves are catering."

He nodded and seemed to be thinking about something, because he had a little smile on his face and spaced out for a moment, but quite suddenly, his smile disappeared and he turned white.

"Luce…. Lucy…. How many people did you give these to?"

"Oh, just Gryffindor."

"The whole house!?"

"Yes, why?"

"You gave out the password to the whole house! If a teacher finds out--"

"Ew, I wouldn't invite a teacher--"

"I am going to lose my head boy position!"

"REMUS! No, you are not. Now stop shouting at me. We will be out of there before eleven, and anyway, have I ever let you down?"

He gave me a pleading look.

I sighed. "It's going to be ok. If a teacher comes, you can hide and I will swear that I nicked the password lists from your pocket. Now please, excuse me. I need to put on my suit. I expect to see you in an hour!"

He gave a big sigh and looked apprehensively at the invitation, but nodded to me ever so slightly.

I started to run up the stairs, when I had the most peculiar feeling. I had to stop and glance back at Remus. He was once again staring at the invitation with a little smile. His modest "I just saved a gazillion goals in quidditch," perhaps, or maybe his "perfected an impossible charm" smile, I wasn't sure. It was just a little lift at the corner of his mouth that suggested he was very pleased with something, very different and much quieter than a laugh. I don't know why I chose that moment to study Remus's smiling techniques, but he must have felt that he was being stared at, because he glanced up.

I just smiled kind of awkwardly, and he looked perplexed, and then I shrugged and ran up the stairs. Sometimes I just don't understand myself.

**A/N: So yeah! Party in the next chapter, and you're all invited! WOOT! (Please excuse your authoress. She has not slept in three days and is running on 6 cups of coffee.)**


	14. When Hogwarts and Margaritaville Collide

**A/N: Whoa fast update! Speaking of dates, I have one tonight. With my boyfriend. Just thought I'd put that out there.**

**When Hogwarts and Margaritaville Collide**

"Goose, this is the most fantastic idea you've ever had," said James, as he toasted me with some kind of fruity drink with an umbrella in it.

"What?!" I shouted over the mixed noise of loud, live Jimmy Buffet music and the laughing voices of students echoing off the bathroom wall.

"I said this is great!"

"Oh! Thanks! Do you know where Remus is? He promised he'd come!"

"Umm, last thing I knew, he was still studying."

My face fell a little.

James looked at me with a wicked grin. "Why do you care so much, Goose?"

"Well, after all, I had planned this party for him and the least he could do was actually show up."

"He'll come by. I have a feeling that potions and the idea of getting in trouble won't be able to keep him away for long."

"James? I think your drink is spiked."

"Thank Merlin. But don't change the subject. I'm not that easy. Why do you really want to know?"

What was he playing at? I figured he must have been tipsy already. But to avoid any more annoying questions, I used the end-all subject change. "Hey James… Lily in a bikini just walked in the door." He disappeared in about .002 seconds.

I surveyed my creation with pleasure. The whole house pretty much showed up, because it's not like they had anything better to do on a school night in a frozen castle. They were dancing and laughing and eating pineapple and coconut smoothies. Peter was handing out leis, and whenever a girl would put one on, he'd shout "you just got lei'd by Peter Pettigrew!" and run away hooting. There was a crazy game of pool volleyball going on in the giant bathtub, which was full of little floating Hawaiian flowers, which I transfigured from folded potions text-book paper flowers myself (much to Remus's despair). I saw Sirius dance by, giving me a thumbs up sign. He was wearing a grass skirt and had a pina colada in each hand. I laughed and waved back.

"He's wearing swim trunks under that, isn't he?" asked a voice from behind me.

I turned around. "Remus! I thought you weren't coming!" I gave him a big hug.

He turned kind of red. He never has been big on hugging. "Of course I came. But I swear, the first sign of a teacher and I am so out."

"Actually, Slughorn is already here."

Remus looked around in alarm, but I patted his arm. "Don't worry. I don't know how he found out, but he wanted to be in on the party and he's already very drunk. I doubt he'll remember you were here in the morning. Besides, he's the one who got Jimmy Buffet to play for us. Apparently, they're good friends. He was in the Slug Club in his Hogwarts days. He was studying abroad."

Remus gave an incredulous look. "Jimmy Buffet is a wizard?"

"Oh yes! He started the whole Hawaiian shirt trend on accident because he didn't know that muggles don't dress like that. And you thought you knew more than me."

"About some things." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Good to see you laughing. Now loosen up! Have some fun! There are hula lessons over by the urinals and if you go in the supply closet, it's been enlarged and they are having a limbo contest. And you should take off your shirt."

I really don't know where that last part came from.

He looked puzzled, once again turning pink. "Ummm why?"

"It's a pool party. Bathing suits are proper attire."

"But you're not wearing one."

I looked down and realized that I was still in jeans and a t-shirt. Some hostess I am. "Well, I have one underneath. Just hold on a second." I had to be very careful in my wiggling out of my clothes, because green bikinis aren't exactly the safest clothes for wiggling. When I had finished, just for effect, I tied a grass skirt around my waist and did a quick hula-move, smiling at Remus. "There, now I'm ready for the party. Happy?"

He didn't answer, only tilted his head as though he didn't understand what I was saying.

"Remus? Are you ok?"

"Ummm I need punch, do you need punch?" And then he walked away without any explanation at all. He'd been doing that a lot lately.

I shrugged and went off to dance with the Patil triplets, who were hovering nearby. "Hiya, boys, want to dance?" Three identical heads nodded eagerly. Ahhhh, the power you have over men when you wear so little clothing.

After a couple dances, I went to go check on James. To my surprise, he was chatting animatedly with Lily Evans over by the newly-installed mini-bar, and she actually looked like she was having a good time. I knew that James was a very charming drunk, and figured he would be ok. I gave him thumbs up over her shoulder and moved on.

There was no talking to Sirius. He had added a coconut bra to his outfit and was dancing with two girls and a tiki-torch. There was a monkey on his shoulder. I really have no idea where that came from.

Peter was standing by the pool, and perhaps enjoying watching the volleyball game a little too much, since the players were predominantly girls in bathing suits.

I finally found Remus and walked over to him. He was transfiguring the urinals into palm trees.

"Wow, that looks great!" I said.

He grinned. "Yeah, I figured they just didn't fit in with the décor."

I chuckled. "Hey, want to dance? Everyone else is drunk."

"Gee, thanks. I'm glad you at least thought of me when I was the only option."

I punched his arm. "Seriously!"

"You can't dance to Margaritaville."

"Maybe you can't, but I'm just that talented. Come on."

I grabbed his arm and led him out to the dance floor (the clear space in front of the sinks). After about two minutes, I started laughing at him again. "You are such a dorky dancer!"

He blushed and stopped.

I felt bad right away. "It's ok. I think it's cute."

He turned a little pink again, but smirked and did some kind of hula waving thing. I snorted.

From over his shoulder, I saw James watching us. He had an insufferable knowing smile on his face, and when he saw me looking at him, he winked. Whatever that means.

**A/N: James might be the only non-blind character in this story. You had better review, because two updates in 24 hours is like... you must love me.**


	15. Revelations from the Night Before

**A/N: This one's a bit different...**

**Revelations from the Night Before**

Remus was saying something to me, but my ears were buzzing and it was hard for me to make out the words.

"Hmmm, did someone cast a _muffliato_ spell on me?" I asked groggily.

"I said you're just as bad as James when it comes to parties! Your second pineapple martini should have been the end, but nooooo…"

"That's not true. I was barely buzzing! Wait… I had a second? I don't remember that."

"You are ridiculous! And on a school night!"

"Don't shout!"

"I'm whispering! Now be quiet, people are staring!"

It was then that I became aware of the fact that I was in a classroom. At least it was Professor Binns's class, so he hadn't seemed to notice that I had been shouting. But everyone else had.

I leaned over to Remus and managed a whisper this time. "How did I get here?"

"I couldn't wake you up, so Peter and I carried you to class and propped you up in your chair."

"Why didn't you just let me sleep?"

"Class is very important! Don't you care about your education?" Typical Remus answer.

I looked down. "Wait… did you not think anyone would notice that I'm in a bikini and grass skirt?"

"Well, I wasn't going to change your clothes for you. You should thank me, really. Peter was all for trying."

I buried my face in my hands in humiliation. I really didn't remember much of my party from the night before.

Remus let his stern tone go for just a moment. "It's ok, Goosey. James was worse than you, and half the class looks the same."

"What happened last night? I don't even remember picking up a second drink."

"I don't know what made you start. Do you remember what happened with James and Lily?"

"No, what happened?"

"Well, I looked over, and they seemed to be getting along, but for some reason, Lily got mad at him and came over and danced with me instead."

"Oh, I bet James wasn't pleased."

"Nope. He swung a punch, but I dodged, and went to leave. And I guess I wasn't keeping a very close eye on you, because next thing I knew, Sirius came to get me because you had gone running off to a broom closet with Owen Dartmouth."

I slapped my hand over my mouth. "Oh no! I didn't!"

"You did. Don't worry, though, we found you before you did anything you'd regret."

"I think I'd regret going off to a broom closet no matter what we did!"

"Well, Owen regrets it a little more, I think, when Sirius and I got through with him."

"Wow, Remus. I never pegged you for the fighting type."

"Well, I was really angry." I looked up at him in surprise. There was an edge to his voice that I'd never really heard before, and it almost frightened me.

There was a long silence while Remus bent to write down a few lines of what the professor was saying. I tried to process all that he'd told me. Obviously, James had gotten jealous when Lily danced with Remus, and if he was a bit inebriated, which I knew he had been, it was probably enough to provoke him into throwing a punch at Remus.

But what part of last night could have made me pick up a drink? I don't usually act that way. I just wished I could remember.

I looked at Remus, who was spacing out in the general direction of the front of the classroom. "So… are you angry with me? You sound angry."

He sighed. "I'm not mad at you. I just don't know what you were thinking. It was just… a bad night. It started out well, but things just didn't end well."

The bell rang, so we packed up our things and headed for the door. Remus mumbled something about the library and went down the hall to the left, so I headed up to the right to find James.

He was still in bed, and knowing what kind of hangover he must have, I gently shook him awake and spoke softly.

"Prongs? Do you remember last night?"

He blinked sleepily. "Umm yeah… mostly. Are you ok?"

"I'm ok. But I don't know what happened. I know that you know something, from the look you gave me last night. What was I doing?"

He gave me a lopsided grin. "Well, I think you have a crush on Remus. So I think you got mad when he danced with Lily, just like I did. Only instead of punching, you got depressed and took a drink. And since, for some reason, the news of the party spread, Owen showed up from Hufflepuff, with a few others. You flirted him up a little bit, under impaired judgment. I actually wouldn't put it past him to spike your drink with a love potion, after his nasty break-up with Megan Carrows because he said he still liked you."

I was stunned by what he had said. "I… I don't think that's right. I think I'd know if I had a crush on my best friend. That's just ridiculous."

He laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. "Maybe… maybe not. But you sure gave him a pointed look when you walked out the door with Dartmouth in tow."

I shook my head in disbelief. "That's silly. That's really silly, James. You're still drunk."

"Yeah, probably. But then again… maybe not."

I stood up in a daze, still shaking my head. "You are ridiculous. Go back to sleep." I turned around and stormed out of the dorm, almost knocking Peter over on my way out.

I walked back to my own dorm and changed out of my ridiculous outfit and into some sensible cotton pajamas before shimmying under the covers to nap. I was sure this would all make more sense after some honest sleep. James was just being ridiculous.

But still… my last conscious thought before falling asleep under the twinkling stars of my ceiling was dancing last night with the person who put them there.

**A/N: Oh the drama! Oh the angst! Well, every story needs a little.**


	16. Foiled Plans

**A/N: It's been longer than usual. I've barely been able to write coherantly, and I've possibly lost my mind... gah. But it won't be this long again.**

**Foiled Plans**

I woke up later that evening with a splitting headache and nearly went back to sleep, but Melanie handed me a bottle of sober-up potion "from Sirius, you lucky girl," as she put it.

It shows the desperation of the Hogwarts women when they begin to think a sober-up potion is a romantic gift.

I downed the whole bottle and sat for a few minutes to let it take affect. When my head stopped throbbing and I could see straight, I headed directly toward Gryffindor's common room. Remus and Peter were studying together and James was on one knee proposing to Sirius, I suspect as the result of an exploding-snap loss.

"Hey boys. Alright?"

They gave assorted waves and nods in my direction.

"Good to see some enthusiasm," I snorted.

Peter looked up worriedly, beads of sweat on his scrunchy brow. "Well, we all got so distracted from studying last night, we need to catch up before we fail our NEWTS and as a result, fail life completely!"

I rolled my eyes. "Did Remus tell you that?"

"No," said Remus.

"N-no," squeaked Peter.

"Yes," chimed the others simultaneously.

"Remus, you dolt. NEWTS are months away, and it's so close to Christmas holiday!"

"Sure," he said darkly. "Easy for you to say. You're only a sixth year. How would you have any idea what kind of stress we're under?"

The others looked up in surprise at his harsh tone.

I tipped my chin up and glared at him. "Oh really? Well, out of your seventh year friends, you are the only one with a wand up your arse about exams. And I think I've had enough!"

I turned on my heel and stormed out, muttering under my breath.

I noticed after a moment of wondering where I was going to sulk that Remus was following me out. "I'm sorry Lucy. Lucy! Will you stop? I said I was sorry!"

I huffed and turned to face him, frowning indignantly.

He grabbed my shoulders and bent down a little to look me in the eye. "Ok, I know I shouldn't have said that. But I really can't spend so much time messing around if I'm going to pass my NEWTs! How the heck is someone in my condition supposed to find work with anything less than, say, thirteen Outstanding NEWTs? It's not possible. So please try not to be such a distraction when I actually find time to study."

I pouted. "So I'm a distraction."

He smiled apologetically. "Yeah, I hate to say it, but you are so much more entertaining than Potions." Then he made a perfect puppy dog face.

Ok, I might be weak, but how could I stay angry when he was looking at me like that? It was adorable. In a completely platonic way, of course.

"Fine. I'll even help you with your potions if you want."

"No offense, Luce, but didn't you fail your Potions OWL?"

"Only because I crashed Slughorn's Christmas party last year, and he hated me."

"Lucy, the fumes from your potion sent the entire class to the hospital wing."

"Would you stop bringing that up? It's not my best subject, ok?"

He chuckled. "No kidding… I think I'll be fine on my own. You find some way to keep yourself busy and out of trouble."

"Yes, professor."

"Shut up, brat."

"Jerk."

"Punk."

"Wolf."

"Shhhhh!"

"Oh, settle down."

I shoved him away and he flicked my arm before heading back for the common room, laughing his head off.

I stood for a moment in boredom before coming up with a brilliant plan on how to spend my afternoon. I was going to plan another party.

MWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPP

"But Lucy… didn't you just get over the hangover from your last party?"

"Shut it James. This is a Christmas party, and it will be…not in a bathroom, and there will not be alcohol."

"There wasn't supposed to be alcohol last time and Sirius smuggled it in anyway."

"I'm doing this for you, Prongsie. You need more time spent with Lily before the holidays, and I think a festive atmosphere with mistletoe will be just the ticket."

"But Lily hates me. Remember? She stormed off and danced with Remus at the luau."

"Oh yeah… what did you do anyway?"

"I told her that she looked good wet."

"James!"

"Well, she had just gotten out of the pool, and she did, and Sirius told me I should be complimenting her!"

"Well, tell her she has pretty eyes, or that you like her hairstyle, or something nice like that! Men, honestly…"

"Fine, fine, I'll help you throw the party. I'll hit the kitchens and flirt up the house elves and see if I can't get them to roast up something by next Friday."

"Thanks Prongs!" I shouted, skipping away to make arrangements. "That's why you're my favorite!"

"Oh am I? Because I was under the impression you were developing more… wolfish tastes…"

I stopped dead in my tracks and whirled around to face him. "I told you, I still think you are being ridiculous. I mean… gosh. I would know if I liked him, wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, would you?"

"You are insufferable. What do you know, anyway? 'Oh Lily, you look good all drippy wet in that bikini…' yeah… you're the love doctor indeed…"

He looked as though he would like to clobber me so I chose that moment to make my swift exit.

And of course, right outside the door I promptly ran into Remus.

"Finally taking a study break?" I asked.

"Finally taking a slacking break?" was his retort.

"Ha ha. Actually, I am very busy planning a party for the last day of school before hols."

"Most people would call that slacking…"

"Hush, or you won't be invited."

He gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Goose, I can't come anyway."

My face fell. "Oh? Why not?"

"Most people probably can't. That's the night of Slughorn's big Christmas party. I already RSVPed and Slughorn said he can introduce me to someone who might be able to help me in the future… you know… with my problem…"

"Oh. That's ok... Maybe I won't throw a party."

We stood in silence for a moment and I noticed that he was doing that playing-with-his-collar thing he does when he is freaking out about something.

"Remus… are you ok?"

He turned pink. "Oh, yes, well… I am supposed to bring a date to Slughorn's party, and I don't really want to, but Megan Carrows has had her eye on me since she got dumped by both Sirius and James, so I was thinking I'd be safer if I had a date, and, you know, I'm supposed to, so I was hoping you would…. You know," he trailed off, looking as though he wanted the floor to swallow him up.

I knew exactly what was going on. "You were hoping I would help you find a date!"

He smiled, relieved. But then he did a double take. "Wait…."

"That's what you wanted, right?"

He looked at me as though he was going to say something, but then thought better of it. "Yes," he said. "That's what I wanted."


	17. How James and Realizations Relate

**A/N: You should all be excited because this is the longest chapter so far and there are many happenings, so I hope this will make up for me taking forever to update last time!**

**How James and Realizations Relate**

**_(or: the title will be clear at the end when I explain, but will give too much away at the top)_**

Melanie, my dorm mate, happily agreed to go with Remus to Slughorn's party. She would have preferred Sirius, considering her gigantic crush on him, but hey… a marauder is a marauder. Except maybe Peter, who had neither been invited nor managed to find a date who was invited. Sirius was taking a girl he met in the Hogsmeade pub, and I told James I would go with him, mostly because Slughorn disliked me and I wouldn't be able to go otherwise, and James knew I wouldn't mind if he ditched me and tried to woo Lily while we were there. (Lily was going with Owen Dartmouth… I hope she enjoys having her bum squeezed.)

About a half hour before the party, I attempted to use a curling charm on my hair, but since it has always been pin-straight, it didn't work very well. I gave up and smoothed it out, settling for wearing sparkly earrings that would hopefully draw attention away from my boring hair. I threw on some black dress robes with hot pink trim and wandered towards the Gryffindor common room, where I was to meet James. I left behind a panicked Melanie, who was trying to look absolutely perfect so Sirius would be very jealous and wish he had invited her instead.

Women.

James was waiting in the common room with Remus and Peter. Peter was looking rather forlorn in his every day school robes, but James and Remus looked quite dashing.

"Hey boys, where's Sirius?"

"He snuck out to the Three Broomsticks to get his date. They're coming back through the basement of Honeyduke's."

"Oh, how romantic," I said sarcastically.

"Hey," said James, "You have to give the boy credit. He nabbed a date with the barkeep's daughter Rosmerta… she is not hard on the eyes."

"Fine, whatever. Are you guys ready to go?"

Remus shook his head. "I have to go get Melanie from the Ravenclaw common room." He looked very frightened at the prospect, having always been a bit nervous around every girl but me.

I laughed. "Good luck, mate."

"Ready, milady?" James held out his arm for me and I took it, giggling a little. We walked towards Slughorn's office, which had been considerably enlarged and turned into a winter wonderland, with fake dry snow falling all around and disappearing when it hit the floor and large, sheer, red and green banners draped from the ceiling to the floor, so you had to brush through them sometimes to walk across the room.

Slughorn bellowed a hello to James when he entered the already-crowded room. "And James, my boy, be sure to see me later, I can introduce you to the captain of the English quidditch team! Always looking for new talent, they are!" He gave James a hearty wink, and then a dismissive look towards me, before turning around to greet some more newcomers.

Lily was in the corner talking to Owen, and they seemed to be getting along fabulously. I could feel James tense beside me when he spotted them. I patted his arm.

"Don't worry, Prongs. If they start snogging, he will grab her butt, and you know that will make Lily angry, and you have an excuse to come to the fair maiden's rescue."

His eyes got wide. "I don't want him grabbing her at all. I should warn her."

"You can't do that. She won't believe you and will think you are being possessive."

He groaned. "Girls are so complicated."

"I've said it once and I'll say it again… we are _not_ complicated, and how hard is it to say we're pretty and give us chocolate?"

"Hey, Lucy, you're pretty," said James, handing me some chocolate he had conjured from mid-air.

"What the heck, James, you know that won't work on me."

He grinned. "See? You _are _complicated. I rest my case."

I rolled my eyes.

A moment later we were joined by Remus and Melanie. She had missed a rather large chunk of hair on the back of her head with her curling charm, but she looked so flustered, I didn't have the heart to tell her about it. And also it was amusing.

Remus looked a bit tongue-tied by nerves, so Melanie struck up a conversation with James, surreptitiously glancing around the room for Sirius, who had yet to arrive.

I glanced at Remus to get his attention, wanting to loosen him up a bit. He looked my way, so I stared cross-eyed at the offending bit of straight hair on the back of Melanie's head.

Remus smirked at me.

I leaned over and whispered to him, very seriously. "It's a shame after all that time spent getting perfect for her date with Sir- I mean, with you- that she would forget to use a mirror to check her hair in the back. The rules of hair care are simple and finite. Any Cosmo girl should know better."

He had to cover his mouth and disguise a snort as a cough. "Lucy… you aren't any better."

"What do you mean?"

"_You_ have one bit of curly hair in the back."

I self-consciously patted the back of my head, and feeling nothing but straight hair, punched him soundly on the arm.

He rubbed it, playing hurt, and I rolled my eyes again.

"You should thank me for finding you a date with such fine hair fashion."

"Yeah, thanks a fat lot. I should have just taken you."

I glanced up at him quickly and it may have been my imagination, but he turned slightly pink.

"You know… just because we would have had fun, and James could have asked Lily that way."

"Yes, well, Lily was already going with Owen."

"Right," he said quickly. "Oh well."

At that moment Sirius and his date walked in. Melanie gave her a dark look and grabbed a startled Remus by the arm, dragging him off. James, Sirius, Rosmerta and I all raised our eyebrows and exchanged glances.

"I'll explain later," Sirius offered to Rosmerta. "Let's mingle."

And so we mingled a little, talking to the other students who were "lucky" enough to be invited. A little bit in, James was pulled aside by Slughorn and introduced to the captain of the English quidditch team. They got caught up in a deep conversation over the recent quaffle-weighting scandal in Belgium, so I wandered off to see what else was going on. In the corner, Lily and Owen were dancing closely. I glanced at James to make sure he hadn't noticed, which thankfully he hadn't. I decided to observe them covertly under the pretense of getting punch, which happened to be on a table near the same corner.

Lily was chatting animatedly. I leaned in closer to hear that she was talking about Charms, which I knew to be her favorite subject (since she tutored me in it). I knew the look on Owen's face well. It was that "pretending-to-listen-so-you-feel-like-I-care" look he was so good at.

As I sipped my punch, I heard the conversation draw to a close. Lily, being the quick-witted person that she was, must have realized that Owen was not really interested in what she was saying, so instead they just danced.

And then I saw exactly what I was looking for (now doesn't that sound pervy in this context?) Owen's hands slipped a little lower on her waist. And then a little lower.

I sprang into action, dodging the ceiling hangings to run across the room to James, who was still chatting up the quidditch star. I grabbed his arm and began to drag him urgently towards the other side of the room.

"GOOSE! What in the name of Merlin are you doing?! I was setting up an interview with the team manager!" He dug his heels in and we came to an abrupt stop.

"James, listen," I said patiently. "Would you rather marry Lily or be a quidditch star? You must decide right now."

He gave me a confused look. "Marry…?" I saw him glance up at Lily just in time to see Owen make his move, and Lily to step backwards, fuming mad. She began shouting at him, and although we couldn't hear her over the din in the room, it was clear she was not pleased. Owen held up his hands in surrender and started sweet-talking her, but Lily didn't look convinced. He stepped towards her, but before he could do anything, James was beside him.

"The lady said no." And with that, James decked Owen full in the face.

Owen staggered backwards and looked as though he were about to hit James back, but in two seconds, Remus popped up beside James and Sirius swaggered up, putting his arm around Owen's shoulder, causing him to jerk away.

"Now now, Dartmouth," Sirius cooed. "Would picking another fight with us really get you anywhere? And in front of all these prestigious people, too."

I added my two cents. "And Owen? Has that move ever really gotten you anywhere with a girl?" I stepped up beside Lily, who gave me a grateful smile.

Owen glared in a hostile manner, but against the three Marauders (and myself, of course) he decided his best choice was to turn tail and march off grumpily, muttering darkly to himself.

We laughed at him as he walked away, because the Marauder's code is that embarrassment is a much more effective punishment that physical pain, and James and Sirius high-fived.

Lily stared at her feet in embarrassment.

"Don't worry, honey," I patted her back. "It happens to the best of us."

She looked up in surprise. "You mean you…"

I winked. She looked as though she felt a bit less ashamed.

"Evans? Are you alright?" James was using that deep mature voice he suddenly developed whenever Lily was around.

Lily shrugged. "Fine, thanks to you. But don't use that pompous voice around me. And I said you could call me Lily, James."

He broke into a grin like the sunshine. "Care to dance?" His voice cracked, causing Lily to snicker and nod approvingly.

"I suppose I have to thank you somehow. But if your hands come anywhere near my hind-side, or if you say anything about how I look wet, I will beat you with a broomstick."

He looked considerate. "I guess that's fair. Maybe we should have a broom on hand, just in case I misbehave. I know exactly where we can find one, this lovely little broom closet on the second floor. It's roomy and-"

"James…" she said warningly as he led her to away.

I shook my head in disbelief. "That boy will never learn."

"I don't know," said Remus. "He did pretty well for himself tonight."

I grinned, and then realized something was missing from Remus's side, or should I say, someone. "Where is Melanie?"

"Oh," Remus looked slightly ashamed. "She saw Sirius snogging Rosmerta and stormed out crying. I guess she likes him better than me."

I suddenly felt awful for setting them up. "Oh no… I'm so sorry, Remus. I knew better… I mean I knew she liked him, but you needed a date and I didn't think she'd be that spoiled about it."

"It's ok," he shrugged. "I'm already over it. Besides, your date has ditched you for Lily-"

"-as was the plan-"

"-so now we can be dates. It works out evenly, see?"

I thought for a moment and realized he was right. I grinned. "Then I suppose you will have to dance with me again."

He smiled back. "I suppose."

We headed for the floor and started swaying to the music, which was provided live from some band that Slughorn was connected with.

After a moment I sighed.

"What's the sigh for?" he asked.

"Have you ever noticed that at every party here, there is so much drama that someone ends up getting punched, and someone else leaves crying?"

He shrugged. "Well, I'm assuming the drama is over."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, if Lily and James end up getting together, no one is going to mess with her, and I think they are going to maybe make it a long time. And if you and I are dates tonight, we never really have any _real_ fights, so we should get along fine. You know, for the night, as friends." He cleared his throat awkwardly and I giggled.

"And Sirius and Rose are fine snogging somewhere, so there shouldn't be any drama from that area. I guess you're right, we are all ok for the night."

A slower song came on, so we moved closer and danced in silence for awhile, pondering the events of the evening.

I thought about how much had happened since the beginning of the evening, going from being James's date to being Remus's, whose date had left because of Sirius, who was snogging someone in a broom cupboard, and from the look of it, Lily and James were soon to join them. Lily's eyes were closed and she was resting her head on his shoulder, and he was leaning down to whisper something in her ear with a contented smile on his face.

Remus was staring at them too. I should have just gone to the party with Remus in the first place. Why hadn't I thought of that before? It would have saved a fair amount of drama because we obviously get along famously. Besides, that way he wouldn't have had to go through the drama of being ditched by his date, which had to suck. I wondered briefly why he hadn't just asked me. He probably wanted to find a girl that would maybe be his girlfriend. Still, he had obviously thought about it, because he had mentioned it when he came in. I thought back.

"_You should thank me for finding you a date with such fine hair fashion."_

"_Yeah, thanks a fat lot. I should have just taken you."_

So he had thought to ask me after the fact. If he had thought to ask me to go with him instead of helping him find him a date, I probably would have said yes.

But wait… thinking about it now, I couldn't ever remember him asking me to help him find a date. Had he? Or had I assumed? Maybe he was going to ask—

"Penny for your thoughts?" I jumped, startled, almost forgetting he was there.

I recovered quickly. "Oh, no, Moony. You'll have to dish a lot more than a penny for thoughts as valuable as these."

He laughed at me. "I guess they did look like pretty intense thoughts."

I smiled up at him, wondering why I was thinking so hard about this. Why did it matter so much? Clearly my brain was trying to tell me something I was missing, but drew a blank. I felt a vague flutter in my stomach for no apparent reason.

And then it hit me like a bludger.

Oh no! James was right!

**A/N: "How James and Realizations Relate: They Both Hit Like Bludgers" was my preferred title for the chapter, but that would give too much away and was far too long to be an acceptable title. ****I got the idea for Sirius and Rosmerta to go together from "Semi-Charmed Life" by Kerichi, which is a fantastically written Sirius/Rosmerta fic that you can find in my C2 if you are interested. Remember in the third book, how Rosmerta said that Sirius Black was the last person she would ever think would go bad, and then trails off, seemingly flustered? Well, there's the explanation, lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review!**


	18. Christmas Personified

**A/N: Ok, another longer one. I really like it, even if it is a bit late for Christmas... oh well! You will have to breifly get back in the holiday spirit for at least one more chapter, because in the wizarding world, it is Christmas!**

**Christmas Personified**

"I don't get it," said James. "How do you not know you like someone?"

I buried my face in my hands and moaned. "I don't know!"

It was the day after Slughorn's party. Everyone had gone home for Christmas holidays late the night before. When I woke up, I went to visit James, who lived a few blocks away from me. Sirius, who also lived with the Potters, was still sleeping soundly after coming in very late the night before (actually, it was later in the morning when he finally showed up).

James shook his head in disbelief. "When I first met Lily, my stomach flopped, my head spun, my vision was spotty, and I didn't have a single coherent thought. Didn't you have any of that?"

"Well, sort of, but I just assumed I was ill and got over it, spending so much time around you all… I never made the connection."

"Hadn't you ever had these feelings before? With Jonah or Owen or anyone? And you still didn't recognize what it meant?"

"Well, with both of those two, I saw them and thought they were hot, so I went after them. It was calculated. I never _felt_ anything… I didn't know I was supposed to!"

"So it was all math, no chemistry? You sound like a female Sirius Black."

"Now _that's _where I draw the line," I growled.

We sat for a moment in a silence that was only broken by Sirius's whimpering snores from the bed ten feet away. Then James spoke up.

"What are you going to do with this knowledge?"

I had been thinking about that for some time and knew what I had to do. "Nothing," I said matter-of-factly.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. I can't do anything because I don't want to mess things up. When I tell him and he doesn't feel the same, it will be awkward and I'll lose him completely."

"How do you know he _doesn't_ feel the same?"

For one wild moment, the idea that he might actually like me made my eyes widen, but it didn't take long for me to see the truth. "He always picks fights," I said lifelessly. "He teases. Remember when I went out and bought that dress for my date with Owen? It was lovely, and I thought I looked really good in it, but he just kinda shrugged. That's how I know. He doesn't even see me as a girl most of the time. No matter how hard I try, he just sees me as… well, like you or Sirius. Oh, and when he is studying, he thinks I'm a bother."

James raised his eyebrows at me. "I believe the word he used was 'distraction,' not 'bother'."

"Same thing."

He shook his head. "Goose, I must say, for all the help you've given me with girls, you really don't know the first thing about guys."

I stood up and sighed in exasperation. "Then help me!"

James put a finger to his lips to shush me, but not soon enough, because Sirius grunted and sat up in bed.

"Morning, Goose," he said groggily. "Help you what, wake the neighbors?"

"The neighbors, as well as anyone else sensible, are already awake, Padfoot. It's three in the afternoon."

"Really?" Sirius peeked blearily out the window and looked back at us. "Huh, so it is. But in my defense, I snuck in at 10am, so I only got about five hours of sleep."

James laughed. "You weren't very sneaky. You snuck right past the breakfast table, where my whole family was eating, in nothing but your Puddlemere United knickers and a bed sheet."

"Really? Musta thought it was your invisibility cloak when I threw it on." Sirius flopped back on the bed, unconcerned.

James stepped over to his own bed and mimicked Sirius, flopping back onto it with a thud.

"No fair, gentlemen. I don't have a bed."

James snorted. "Sirius always enjoys company in his."

I walked over to James and whipped his pillow out from under his head, using it to wallop him across the face. "Come on, boys, I'm bored. Want to organize a quidditch game?"

"Sure!" James always perked up instantly at the mention of his favourite sport.

"Ok, James, you should owl Lily and invite her. I will owl… Peter."

"What about Remus?"

I turned a bit pink. "Sirius, want to owl Remus?"

"Sure thing… but not for quidditch, it's freezing outside! The broom tails will get icy, and James wouldn't want to snap any twigs on that fancy new racing broom of his."

"Hmm… good point." James had talked of nothing but his new Silver Arrow 413 broom, which was a Christmas present from his parents. It was too difficult to disguise a broomstick with wrapping, even with magic, so he had been allowed to open it the moment he arrived home the night before. "Besides, Lily doesn't like to fly much."

I thought harder. "Well, what if we take a trip to Diagon Alley to Christmas shop? We can spend the day, and then split up so we can get presents for each other."

Sirius and James both agreed it was a good idea, so we owled our friends and bundled into coats and scarves. I put on mittens as well, which are very impractical for handling things, but last winter Remus and I had both agreed that mittens were an important part of winter and must be worn in the snow for the sake of Christmas tradition.

I realized then how many times per day I thought about that boy and rolled my eyes at the hopelessness of the situation.

But I still hoped he would be wearing mittens when we met him in Diagon Alley.

James, Sirius and I flooed from the Potter's large marble fireplace directly into the Leaky Cauldron. We only had to wait about three minutes for Remus, but Lily took about ten minutes longer, I suspect because she wanted to look her best now that she had a little thing for James. We all chatted about our mornings while we waited for James to prod that special little brick with his wand ("That's what she said." "Shut up Sirius.") that opened the entry into the street. I hadn't been in Diagon Alley around Christmas since my parents were alive, and I remembered right away why I loved it so much. Ribbons and garland hung over every window, and lights twinkled from every holly-decked doorframe and tree. The shops themselves had sparkling displays of toys and gifts piled before their windows. We stood in the entryway and admired it for a moment before I set off excitedly, the others scurrying to catch up.

"Where to first?" Lily breathed. I realized that as a muggle-born, she probably hadn't been to Diagon Alley at Christmas before, and her wide eyes couldn't seem to take in enough and her face shone with excitement.

James leaned over to me and whispered, "She looks just like Christmas, doesn't she?"

I gave a puzzled look at Lily, who didn't really resemble Christmas in any way, and I was unsure of what he meant. "Uh… yeah. Sure, James."

He turned to the red-headed girl and smiled. "Lily? Want to stop by the Sugar Shoppe? I know you like sugar quills, and they come in peppermint flavour if you go this time of year."

She smiled shyly, which was an unusual manner for Lily, but she nodded and let James take her hand and lead her off.

We stared after them in amazement. Sirius wolf-whistled, so I punched him.

He rubbed his shoulder grumpily. "I wasn't whistling at them, I was whistling at the new display of brooms in the window of the quidditch shop!" he said innocently.

We wandered towards one he was pointing at. "Isn't that the one James just got?" I asked, pointing at the most prominently displayed broom, shining in the front.

"Wow," said Remus, frowning. "Is that price in _knuts_?"

"Galleons, I think."

Sirius shrugged. "I guess you start to get used to how loaded the Potters are when you live with them."

He and Peter decided to go in and have a better look, but Remus said he wanted to go by the pet shop and asked if I wanted to go, too. I loved the pet shop, but I didn't want to be off alone with Remus now that I knew how I felt.

And then of course I realized I was being silly. So far, Remus had no idea that anything had changed. He would know right away that something was up if I refused to go to the pet shop, so I hesitantly followed him.

"I don't remember exactly where it is…" I said.

"Oh, it's just there," he pointed a few stores down, where I could see a large cage of white turtledoves displayed in a well-lit window.

But I hardly noticed where he was pointing. More significant was the fact that he was pointing with a mitten-clad finger. I glowed.

"Mittens! You remembered!" I held up my hands to show that I hadn't forgotten either.

"Awesome!" he said, and we gave each other a muffled, mitten high-five. I forgot that things were weird and it was just me and him again, buddies like always.

We stepped into the noisy pet shop and looked through the cages of owls first, and then the cats. They all looked rather displeased to have big red bows tied about their necks in the spirit of the season. After that, we rounded the corner to the little terrariums of toads and colour-changing frogs, which were singing and flashing their colours so brightly that it was a bit dizzying.

The pet accessories were boring to me, because I didn't actually own any animals, but we did stop to look at some cat, dog, and rat collars that were decked with jewels and spikes and all other sorts of decorations.

"Who would pay to have a diamond collar for a dog, honestly?" I asked in disbelief.

"Probably the Potters," he mumbled in response.

I was surprised at his tone. "Remus, are you ok?"

He glanced at me, a bit ashamedly. "I mean, my family isn't poor, but I can't afford to get everyone fancy gifts for Christmas… I just feel bad, because I want… I all my friends… to know I care about them and value their friendship."

I gave him a look. "Don't worry about us. We know we are "_valued,"_ as you put it, and you don't have to throw any money at us to keep it that way. Besides, now that I'm staying with my aunt and uncle, it's not like I can really afford great gifts either."

He shrugged. "I'd still like to get you something nice. You've been a great friend. Anything in particular you want?"

I smiled inwardly at his praise. "Just friendship. When I'm not at school, I get so lonely since my uncle is gone all day at the Ministry and my aunt keeps her book shop, and I'm all cooped up alone. Stop by once in awhile and we can hang out. "

He nodded. "I guess I can afford that."

"What about you? What would you like for Christmas?"

He thought for a moment. "I don't know. I mean, mostly I just do school, and read during the summer. So maybe a book?"

I shook my head. "You are such a nerd."

"And you still want to be my friend, in spite of my short-comings?"

I laughed at him. "I suppose. You know you're my favourite."

He stopped short. "Really?"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his coat to drag him after me. "Don't be stupid, Remus. Of course you're my favourite. Now we have to meet the others at the Leaky Cauldron in twenty minutes, and I still have five presents to buy, so let's get moving!" I stomped my foot in feigned frustration and impatience.

He just smiled at me, that same aced-his-OWLS smile I had observed that one night in the common room and still didn't know what it meant.

And at that moment I could finally see what James meant by a person looking just like Christmas.

**A/N: For my belated Christmas present, how about a review? And for yours, you get a lovely long chapter. SO that's a fair exchange, I believe?**


	19. Speaking of Pedophiles

**A/N: Sorry it's short, I haven't had much time. Should be updating again soon, though! It's also a really random absurd chapter, so I guess you will have to deal with that.**

**Speaking of Pedophiles**

Christmas day went by very quickly. It was my third Christmas without my parents, so I was starting to get used to the idea of waking up early and opening presents from my aunt and uncle. They didn't have any other kids, so they really tried to make it special for me. It's not that I didn't appreciate it, but I knew that Christmas just couldn't be the same for me, so I tried to treat it like every other day.

My real Christmas celebration began the next day, when I met up with the Marauders at James's house and gave them their Christmas presents. I had opted to get Remus a book, like he asked, but not just any book. It was a scrapbook of the Marauders and me, including every picture I could round up of our escapades since second year.

He flipped through the pictures and notes, lingering on a few fond memories with a broad grin on his face. "Thanks, Goose, I love it!" He gave me a big hug. "Now come get your present, I left it outside."

I laughed, following him to the door. "You left it out in the snow? Why—?"

But then I saw it. The most adorable little gray puppy was tied to a tree outside the door, yelping at us.

"Now you don't have to be lonely when you are home," Remus explained.

"Oh!" I didn't know what else to say. It was the best present in the world. I ran up to it and it started jumping up, licking my face. Her bright blue eyes were curious as she sniffed me all over. I giggled, studying the big paws, ears, and thick coat. It looked familiar. "Is it a wolf?"

"No, it's a husky. That's as close to a wolf as I could get. My cousin breeds them."

"Well it looks like a wolf. It looks like you."

He chuckled. "That's what I was going for. It's a little nicer than I am as a wolf, though."

"I'm going to call him Moony."

He smirked. "_She_ might not like that."

"Oh. Well, if I spell it with an 'i-e' it can be a girl's name."

"I like it."

"That's because it's your name."

"Yes, but now I have a legacy."

"And Sirius has someone to wrestle with when there is no full moon."

I gave Remus the biggest hug ever and untied the puppy to carry it inside. She was wearing a brown leather collar. I gasped. "Moonie" was already inscribed on the nameplate, along with my address and phone number.

"How did you know what I would name her?"

He winked. "I just know you."

I gave him a look of disbelief and he laughed at me. "And also, it is a magical nameplate that identifies the dog and its owner upon being put on a dog. I got it at the pet shop in Hogsmeade."

"Oh, you really had me going! It's really something. Now let's go inside." I snuggled my new puppy and walked towards the door.

Remus hesitated. "She's not exactly toilet trained…"

"Ever heard of '_scourgify_'?"

"Good point. Do cleaning spells work on Persian rugs? Because the Potters have, like, seven."

"Then they shouldn't worry about staining one." I marched into the house. "Hey everyone, come see Moonie!"

The other three ran into the front room, skidding one of the fancy rugs into a bunched up mess. They stared at Remus. "He looks the same," Peter said simply.

"Not _that_ Moony, _this_ Moonie."

They looked at the puppy. "This is going to get confusing," James said.

"I don't care, I like it," said Peter, coming up to pet the puppy.

Sirius just pouted. "Way to go, Moony, now she has a new favorite dog. No more scratches behind my ears or pats on the head for me."

"Well at least you have someone to play with, Sirius."

"I guess you're right. Besides, Moonie is quite the looker. Can't wait for her to grow up."

We stared at him in disbelief. "Are you even allowed to fall in love with someone of a different species?"

He shrugged. "Half the time we are the same species."

Everyone cringed at the thought and I put my hands over Moonie's ears. "Sirius… you are a cross-species pedophile. I hope you realize that. And stay away from my dog."

There was a long, awkward silence immediately following. James spoke up after a moment.

"Speaking of pedophiles, I need you guys to help me with taking Lily on a date."

We stared blankly. "Umm… how does that relate to pedophiles at all?" I asked.

"It doesn't, I just wanted to change the subject. Although… now that I think of it, she is almost a full two months older than me."

Remus shook his head. "Ok, how can we help?"

James sighed. "I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend. I need this date to go really well, so I was hoping that a couple of you would come with me, like a double date, to, you know, watch me and hit me if I start being an idiot."

Sirius grinned. "Pick me! I love dates."

James chuckled. "Well, Padfoot, I would take you, but I have a feeling that if I start to be an idiot, you will just watch and enjoy it. So I think I will have to take Moony, who might actually stop me from being stupid."

Sirius pouted, but Peter got excited. "I'll be the other person!"

We all gave him a look. "Ummm… you could," James said kindly. "But that would imply that you were on a date with Remus."

"Yes," I said. "If James is going to bring Lily on a double date with Remus, then the other person going with them will have to be a girl, meaning it has to be… oh no." My stomach did that obnoxious flippy thing again.

They all looked at me.

James smirked. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"It has to be me," I finished, giving Moonie a pitiful look. She licked my face.

**A/N: Yay! Everyone loves dates! Everyone loves puppies! Everyone loves Remus! So now you should love me and review!**

**Ok, but as far as business goes, you should all check out the one-shot I wrote. It's called A Someday Curse, and it's a Lily/James fic with an interesting little twist that hopefully you won't see coming... it's gotten lots of really good reviews so far, so you should read it! You can find it in my C2, Marauder Medley, which you should also subscribe to! And that is my advertisement for the day!**


	20. The Knife Walking Date

**A/N: Maybe another chapter later tonight? I have a LOT of time to kill.**

**The Knife Walking Date**

"James Potter, I know I've said this a million times since I met you, but this time I am honestly going to kill you."

He just sat there smirking at me. "Oh, come on, you can't tell me you are honestly mad at me for getting you a date with Remus."

"What the heck! He's going to figure it out if you are so obvious."

"He just thinks that you and him are bailing me out of a tricky situation because I asked. There's nothing obvious about it."

"Grrrr James. Grrrrrrrrrr."

"That was mature. You sound like Sirius."

"Well you made me grumpy."

"You should thank me."

"Grrrrrrrr."

James and I were at his house waiting for Remus to show up. After that we were going to go to Lily's house to get her. I insisted that Remus just meet me at James's because it wasn't a real date. He was indignant and said that if we were going to make this look believable, then he should pick me up, or at least floo to my house. I told him that Lily wasn't even going to be there, so we didn't have to make it look believable yet.

James just gave me a pointed look and I settled down. I was so nervous about this whole not-even-real date that I was picking fights with both him and James, and I had to cut it out.

I sighed. "I'm going to get my heart broken, aren't I?" It was really more of a statement than a question.

"What do you mean?"

"I fell for my best friend. I can't tell him, obviously. I don't know how to get out of this. I'm going to get my heart broken."

He furrowed his brow in thought. "Not necessarily. There is still the chance he likes you."

"He doesn't though, we've been through this."

"I think he does."

"Well, how would you know anything? You've been saying Lily was in love with you since third year."

"Well… was I really so wrong about that?"

"Yes! She's only even liked you for half a term!"

"Well, that's what she tells us, anyway."

"James, you know she loathed you."

He shrugged. "Maybe."

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, Mr. Love Genius, how do you figure it is possible he likes me?"

"Well, if you think about it, you say he didn't like your dress when you went on that date?"

"Right. He just stared at it and sounded all snappy and said it was 'ok'."

"Well, from a guy's point of view, you were all dressed up for probably the first time in your life, and you were doing it to impress another guy. How do you think that would make him feel if he liked you?"

"I don't think that was it."

"I do. That's also why he wouldn't talk to you for a week after your date with that stupid Hufflepuff prick. He was green jealous."

"No… no that's not true. Because also when I threw him that luau, he wouldn't stay around me for more than two seconds at a time. Wouldn't he want to be by me?"

"Lucy? You were wearing a bikini. Poor Remus was afraid that you would start to figure out that he turned bright pink whenever you came around. And remember, if he likes you, he wouldn't want to make it too obvious."

"But when he was studying, he said I was bothering him. If he liked me, he wouldn't think I was a bother."

"Ok, for about the thousandth time, he didn't say 'bother.' He said 'distraction'."

"Same thing."

James snorted. "Do you know how hard it is to distract Remus from studying? Sirius and I can't even do that, and we're his best mates. The only time he stops is for the full moon, and for you."

"He hates the full moon."

"He really, really likes you though."

I tried to let everything he'd said sink in. Was it possible? Was it really, truly possible? It just didn't seem like it could be. I felt my eyes start to well up. Oh gosh, I thought. How humiliating, and Remus would be here any second.

James got a really nervous look on his face and patted me on the back. "Oh, Luce… I'm sorry… I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry."

I laughed a little shakily. "I am such a dork. I didn't mean to cry." I wiped my face off, really embarrassed. And of course, at that moment the flames in the Potter's fireplace turned bright green and Remus stepped out, brushing ash and soot from his green shirt.

Green happens to be my favorite color. He knows that.

He looked up at me and smiled, but his face fell right away, etched with concern "Lucy, what's the matter? Have you been crying?"

"No," I said feebly. "Just got ash in my eye."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He looked skeptically at me for a moment, having always been able to tell when I'm lying.

I pasted a big smile on my face and took a deep breath. "So, you boys ready to go?"

"Yup," said James, but I noticed that his voice had risen about an octave. It was his turn to be nervous.

We walked out to the curb and hailed a taxi, since Lily was a muggleborn and wasn't attached to the floo network. It took about fifteen minutes to get to her house, and then the cab took us downtown where we were going to attempt some nutter muggle sport that Lily had suggested.

"Let me get this straight," I said. "We are going to strap knives onto our feet and try to walk on ice? And it's supposed to be fun?"

"Umm in a manner of speaking." Lily shifted uneasily in her seat. James patted her on the back reassuringly, but behind her head, we exchanged a frightened look with Remus.

A few moments later, we arrived at our destination. James and Remus split the cab fare as Lily instructed them which bills to use. I tried to pay, but Remus waved my hand away. "This is a date, remember? I need to pay or Lily won't believe it." he muttered into my ear. His breath tickled and I giggled. He gave me a strange look.

I directed my attention to the knife-sliding rink, where lots of muggles were already gliding in circles around the outside. They looked to be having a fun time, but I saw one take a nasty fall on his bum and the idea began to lose its appeal. Of course, I also saw a few couples holding hands and pulling each other around the ring, and a glance at Remus made the idea appeal a little more.

Lily and James went through the line ahead of us. When it was my turn, I pointed at my size apprehensively. The woman behind the counter gave me a strange look when I timidly took the little white lace-up boots and stared at the glinting blade on the bottom with a look of horror.

"What are these called again?"

"Ice skates." More strange looks from the woman behind the counter. "Are you going to pay for them?"

"Umm…" I glanced around for Lily, but she was no where to be found. "Yes?" I handed the woman a shiny galleon from my pocket and began to walk away.

"Excuse me, miss. Is this play money? I've never seen this before, but I don't think we accept it."

"Gold is gold, lady," I said weakly.

"Are you foreign?" she asked me curiously.

I was saved from having to answer when Remus came dashing dashingly to my rescue, handing me a paper note, which was apparently money. "Lily said use this one."

I handed the note to the woman sheepishly and left before she could stop me, the whole line staring after me in amusement.

Skating was a disaster for me. I wasn't too ashamed because after all, it is a ludicrous invention. Walking on ice is hard enough to begin with, and then they give you shoes with the tiniest surface area they can find and expect you to not fall down. Lily tried to show us how to slide along, explaining that it's not like normal walking and you don't have to pick your feet up. It was no use. After about a half an hour, we were all so covered in ice and snow that our lips were turning a shade of blue to rival our new bruises.

"I think we should call it a day," Lily said in defeat.

"It's ok, Lily," James assured, "It's not your fault that muggles are crazy. You were fighting a losing battle trying to make these shoes work." James held up his skates. He had given up after five minutes and used his wand to remove the blades from his skates when no muggles were looking. He spent the rest of the time walking around on the ice and pointing his new and improved skates to passing muggles. "See how much better this works?" he would tell them. "It is easier this way, let me help you!" No muggles had taken him up on the offer.

Remus was very frustrated because he had found something he wasn't good at. Of course, he had done much better than the rest of us because he was clever enough to figure things like that out, but it wasn't good enough for him.

We resignedly gave the skates back to the woman at the counter.

"Sir?" she said to James with surprise. "What happened to the blades on your skates?"

"I took them off," he said proudly. "They are much easier to walk in this way, you'll see."

She gaped at him in disbelief as we walked away, Lily shooting her apologetic looks over her shoulder.

Lily was still bright pink (I think maybe we embarrassed her by being so bad at skating) when we got in the cab to head back to Remus's house, where we had decided to go for cocoa.

Remus's mother greeted us with a bright smile when we walked in the door.

"Hey Mrs. Lupin," I said, giving the stout woman a hug. She squeezed me tightly.

"Oh, Lucy dear, I haven't seen you in ages! Keeping out of trouble?"

"Of course," James, Remus and I rang in unison.

"Good. I already made cocoa, it's on the counter. James, who is your girlfriend?"

Lily, who was holding James's hand when we came through the door, turned a new shade of red and let go. "Oh… I'm not… exactly…"

"_Yet," _James mouthed to Mrs. Lupin.

The woman nodded knowingly. "Cocoa!" she said loudly, and headed for the kitchen.

Lily glanced at James and he winked. She looked back at her feet, but I thought I caught a smile tug at the corner of her lips.

I discreetly elbowed Remus and pointed it out to him. Like James, he winked at me.

And it was adorable. I almost melted into a little puddle of Lucy-mush right there on Mrs. Lupin's rug.

**A/N: Review! You know the drill. Check back later (and I mean LATE later) tonight for another chapter! Because right now I have to go watch American Idol.**


	21. A Fake Mistake

**A/N: Two tonight, as promised! Did I ever mention that I don't own Harry Potter? Because I don't. If I did, Peter would be the only Marauder to die.**

**A Fake Mistake**

After skating, we sat on Remus's couch around the television watching some holiday special that was very dull indeed. It didn't matter because we were all talking and sipping cocoa and ignoring it almost entirely. After all, Remus's mother made almost euphoric hot chocolate.

James and I were having a very heated argument over the chances that the Irish would ever win the world cup when, suddenly, Lily changed the subject.

"Is this a set-up?"

James, Remus and I fell silent and turned towards her.

James cleared his throat nervously. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't know that Lucy and Remus were dating. It seems like something that you or Sirius would set up to… I don't know, but they don't act like they are dating. It seems suspicious." She looked back and forth between Remus and I.

Time for cover up. "Oh, we are dating," I said, nodding.

Remus turned and gave me a surprised look. I elbowed him. He cleared his throat, catching on, and nodded also. "Yes. Lucy Goose is my girlfriend. Right, ummm Cupcake?"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Mmmhmmm."

"Really," he squeaked feebly. I could tell from the look on Lily's face that we had lost her. James opened his mouth to speak, and I cringed because I knew our poor acting had let him down.

I don't know what made me do it. Due to some combination of being so near to letting James down and Remus smelling really good in his lovely green shirt, I don't think I thought at all. It was more like I was possessed by some nutter spirit that took control of my body. But I turned to Remus, grabbed him by the collar, and kissed him.

His eyes shot open in surprise, but after a second, he closed them and I could feel him smile. Good, he figured out that I was acting and started to play along.

I'm glad he figured that out because I wasn't sure that I'd worked that part out in my own mind completely.

And the whole time that my brain was going through that freak out, I was kissing him. It was the most fantastic kiss I'd ever had, perhaps because I've never been so crazy about the guy, but also because for a brief second, I could imagine that this was completely real.

But it wasn't. I realized after a moment that someone should stop me, and it probably had to be me.

I shut my eyes as tightly as they would go, trying to memorize how his soft lips felt on mine. It took everything in me to pull back, grinning like an idiot, leaving Remus hanging there in a complete daze as though he had no idea what he had just done. We stared at each other in shock for a moment before I shook myself out of it and turned to James and Lily, after having briefly forgotten they were there. "See? We are dating."

Lily shrugged casually. "Ok, you've convinced me. I don't know why I thought… never mind. Sorry."

James, who until then had been sitting there with his gab hanging open in disbelief, shook his head. "Wow guys… that was really… believable."

We all turned to him with a collective gasp of surprise.

"What do you mean, believable? What's going on?" Lily demanded.

James started to chuckle. "Well, Lily, I always seem to mess up when I'm around you, so I pretended this was a double date with Remus and Lucy so they could keep and eye on me so I didn't blow it. They aren't really dating."

Lily's eyes widened. "You mean that was a fake? It seemed so… yeah, believable."

James shrugged. "I guess I have friends who will do anything for me. I'm sorry for misleading you about that, but it really was in the best interest of the evening."

"Why did you do that, James? I…" she blushed for about the thousandth time that night. "I like you even when you do screw up. It's endearing."

He rubbed his neck. "I needed tonight to be perfect. Because Lily…" he gave Remus and me a pointed stare. Now that I think of it, he was probably telling us to leave so he could ask Lily out, but I wasn't thinking clearly at all and kind of missed the signal. Remus seemed to have finally come out of whatever glazed-over panic-stupor he was in and grabbed my wrist to lead me from the room.

Wait no, he had my hand. He usually took my wrist, but this time he took my hand and led me out. We trotted down the hall and out the front door and came to a stop on the front step when we realized how freezing cold it was.

And stood there in the most awkward and heavy silence in the world.

I realized that I had forgotten to let go of his hand and dropped it quickly, not wanting to make the moment any more awkward than it already was.

When we couldn't take it any longer, we started talking at the same time.

"Lucy, I don't--"

"I'm so sorry--"

"Oh, I'm sorry, you first."

"No, you. Please."

"Umm ok," I started. "I don't know why I did that, I thought James needed us to cover for him, and she wasn't going to believe us… other wise I wouldn't have put you through that. So I didn't mean to make things weird. You know I was just acting, right? I mean, I know better than… you know." I had to make him understand. If he thought that I really liked him, it would be awkward and he wouldn't want to be my friend anymore.

I couldn't see his face in the dark, but when he spoke, his voice was level and natural. "Yeah, totally. I knew you were just playing. I was just helping James, too. It's no big deal. I knew what you were doing."

I felt a lump in my throat. Of course he was playing along. I knew that. Why had I bothered to get my hopes up? I felt a hot tear run down my face before I could stop it and wiped it off, hoping he couldn't see me in the dark either. I swallowed the lump in my throat, ashamed of being such a baby, and tried to sound like I was smiling. "Cool. No worries then."

"No worries," he echoed.

I always knew I was going to get my heart broken. I told James, that rotten James, and he said I wouldn't. But I did.

I noticed that Remus was looking up at the sky. It was another perfect, starry night.

"It's my favorite when it's like this," I said stupidly.

"I know," he said. "I don't feel well. I'm going inside."

"Full moon coming?" I knew it was. It was coming tomorrow. I knew when the full moon was coming every month, and I asked him every month all the same. Whether I knew it at the time or not, it had always been another excuse to talk to him.

"Tomorrow," he said as he opened the door and walked inside, leaving me out in the cold.

A little later, James dropped Lily off and he and I flooed to his house. I could tell from the big idiot grin on his face (similar to the one I had when I kissed Remus) that Lily had said yes. He was completely out of it, and I was glad that he wasn't prying.

"Hey, Lucy, did you want to stay over? We can try quidditch again if it's warmed up any tomorrow."

I gave him a half-hearted, lopsided grin. "Sure your parents won't mind?"

"You know my parents wouldn't care, since you're hardly a girl to them anymore. Besides, aren't you and Remus…?"

"No."

His face fell. "Oh. Umm why not? I was so sure… I mean, you guys kissed!"

I looked up at him miserably. "We were just playing to help you."

He frowned. "That's not true. That was the most real kiss I have ever seen."

"That's because it was real. To me. Not to him. He was playing along. He even told me." I grabbed a blanket from the back of the Potter's couch and flopped down onto its soft, brown leather. "I don't want to talk about it."

He stared at me sadly, looking truly perplexed. "I don't understand. I was so sure that he…"

I rolled over. "Well you were wrong. Goodnight, James," I snapped.

I knew he was still staring at my back. I didn't care.

I closed my eyes tightly and tried to forget everything. I thought about ice skating and falling down a million times. I could still feel the bruises all over my body from hitting the ice, and I focused my whole mind onto them. But when I thought about falling down, I thought about Remus, laughing and pulling me to my feet, and that little frown line he got when he tried so hard to stay up on his skates. I felt myself starting to drift off to sleep, almost smiling. I vaguely heard a rustling by the fireplace and someone mutter something about Lupin's house, and then saw a green glow through my closed eyelids, but I was so close to sleep that it could have been imagined.

**A/N: I don't know if you'll love me because something happened or if you'll hate me because I made it un-happen. I guess you'll have to review. But remember... I'd rather not hear if you hate me. Unless it is very constructive hatred.**


	22. Moonie, Moony, and the Full Moon

**A/N: I've been really busy and I'm going to stay that way, but I'll take every opportunity to work on this, I promise!**

**Moonie, Mooney, and the Full Moon**

It took me a moment to remember where I was the next morning when I awoke, squinting my eyes against the bright sunlight that streamed through the Potter's royal blue curtains.

The house was quiet, which was a rather unusual occurrence for this particular household. Mr. and Mrs. Potter must have already left for work at the ministry, and James was no where to be seen or heard. I assumed he was sleeping up in his bedroom. I rolled over and sat up, looking out the big bay window at the front of the living room. It was amazing to me that the I lived only blocks from the Potters, and yet their house made my aunt and uncle's small flat look like a hut from a third world country.

I saw an owl sitting on the window sill, looking rather perturbed at being shut out in the snow. I immediately recognized it as my uncle's owl and cringed. I had forgotten to inform them that I was sleeping at James's, and they were probably worried. I pushed open one of the side windows and let the owl in. It dropped a letter at my feet, hooting grumpily, and then perched on the mantle above the fireplace, spreading its wings to absorb some of the heat from the merry, crackling fire below.

I cautiously opened the note and read.

_Lucille Brown, I don't know where you are, and your uncle and I are worried sick! I'm sure you are just at one of those boy's houses, but it would be kind of you to inform us in the future! Also, it is very improper for a young, unattached lady to be staying the night in a boy's house. _

_And one more thing- your uncle and I are not responsible for feeding that animal of yours and you had better come home this instant and toilet train it! It ruined Charlie's work shoes._

_Aunt Linda_

I crumpled the note into a ball and tossed it into the fire, rolling my eyes. I wrote James a quick note explaining where I'd gone and flooed home to feed Moonie. I had forgotten about her when I agreed to stay at James's house. Thankfully, Aunt Linda and Uncle Charlie had both already left for work.

Moonie was overjoyed to see me and yipped happily, bouncing up and down at my side. While looking at her reminded me so much of Remus, her big blue eyes still managed to force a smile onto my face. I decided to bring her back with me. She was very upset by the whole flooing process and threw up on the rug when we arrived back at the Potter's. I scolded her while she stared accusingly back at me.

"Way to go, slick," drawled a sarcastic voice from behind me.

I turned to see James standing there in the same shirt and pants that he had worn the night before, staring with amusement at the scene before him.

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll clean it up. Where the heck have you been?"

"I went to go see Remus last night."

My face went white. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

"Don't get your knickers in a knot. I just went to go see what on earth he was thinking; telling you he was just playing along last night, when I remain convinced that he was lying through his teeth."

"And?"

"I'm still convinced."

I stared at him in disbelief. He was impossible. "You refuse to admit that you're wrong, don't you?"

He just shrugged lazily.

"Well, what did he say?"

"I think you should ask him. I'm not going to be your go-between anymore."

I glared at him. He smiled innocently. "Want breakfast?"

Moonie howled at the word "breakfast." She had lost hers on the rug, and I could only imagine she was hungry again.

After James, Moonie and I ate eggs and toast with jam, he announced that he had to make a run to Diagon alley for some potion supply refills before we left for Hogwarts tomorrow. I said I'd wait here because I didn't want to go back to my aunt and uncle's tonight.

"Alright," said James. "But just so you're forewarned, the guys are staying tonight so we can leave together in the morning. And that includes lover boy." He gave me a significant glance before stepping into the green flames and disappearing.

I groaned and fell back on the couch. Moonie hopped up beside me and flopped her head across my chest with a sigh.

"Oh Moonie. What have I gotten myself into?" She perked her ears and tipped her head as though wondering what I was saying.

_tap tap tap_

I looked up to see another owl tapping on the window, and this one was unfamiliar. I opened it up, figuring the Potters would want me to get their mail while they were away.

The owl dropped the letter and dutifully flew back out the window towards its home.

The letter was addressed to James and there was a little heart drawn in the corner. I figured it was either from Lily or one of his swooners from school and decided to open it for my entertainment.

_James_

_Thank you for yesterday, it was perfect. I was hoping that you would maybe want to do dinner tonight, since it's our last night before school. Of course you don't have to if you don't want to. Let me know, alright? _

_Lily_

_p.s. So what is up with Remus and Lucy?_

I frowned at the last line and pulled out a piece of parchment, coming up with a rather inspired idea.

_Dear Lily_

_This is Lucy. I am at James's house and I intercepted your letter because James is out in Diagon Alley and I am bored. I regret to inform you that he was planning on having Remus, Peter, and Sirius to stay at his house tonight so he probably can't do dinner. However, if you are particularly bored tonight, what do you say to hanging out with me? Obviously not if you don't want to, but I could use a little dose of estrogen after hanging out with these goons for my entire break. I can explain Remus and me to you myself that way, ha ha._

_Let me know!_

_Lucy Brown_

I sent the Potter's owl out the window. A few moments later, James flooed back with a canvas bag full of potions ingredients.

"Hey Goose, did I miss anything?"

I smirked. "Nothing too important."

_Tap tap tap_

James's face lit up. "That's Lily's owl! For the first time in my life, Lily Evans, my girlfriend, has sent me an owl!"

"It's a Christmas miracle," I said sarcastically. "Actually, it would be the second time she's owled you, if it were _for_ you. But it's for me. _This_ one is for you." I tossed him the first letter, chuckling to myself at the dumbfounded expression on his face, and took the second piece of parchment from the owl at the window.

As James read his letter, I read mine.

_Lucy_

_That's too bad about James being busy, but I would love to have you stay tonight, if you'd like! I'm really sorry about talking about you and Remus in the letter; I didn't mean it in any bad way. I was just curious. Come by as soon as you're ready!_

_Lily_

I had to explain everything to James, who was a bit grumpy about me reading his letter. He grudgingly reminded me that Lily was allergic to dogs, so I begged him to watch Moonie for me overnight.

"Sure," he said. "But don't you remember what tonight is?"

It hit me. Tonight was the full moon, so the boys would be leaving for the shrieking shack well before the sun set and not showing up at Kings Cross until the last moment the following morning.

I sighed. "Well have your parents bring her to King's Cross for me?"

"Fine. Now get going, you have to take a cab to Lily's because she's muggleborn." My eyes widened. I had forgotten that little detail, too. I had never stayed in a muggle house before, and the prospect left me slightly nervous.

I hugged Moonie tightly, feeling like the worst dog owner in the world. She licked my cheek, as if to say she forgave me.

I flooed back to my aunt and uncle's house and packed my Hogwarts trunk, remembering to include Moonie's dish and toys along with a few weeks worth of food. I hoped that none of the sixth year Ravenclaw girls were allergic to dogs and that Moonie would potty train quickly.

And with that I set off for Lily's house. The cab driver gave me an irritated look when I tried to cram my giant trunk into the back and finally helped me tie it to the roof. I suggested that he just use a lightening charm and bind it magically to the roof. After a moment's hesitation, he threw me and my trunk out of the cab and drove off, muttering something about refusing to drive around with crazy nutters in the back seat.

Stupid muggles. I decided to just take the night bus.

**A/N: Unbelievably dull, but I had to close off break before anything else could happen. Will update on Wednesday! An UNBELIEVABLE amount of attention will be directed towards the 100th reviewer, if that happens on this chapter!!!!!!!**


	23. Toast the Muggle Way

**A/N: A GINORMOUS congratulations goes out to PennyLane975, my 100th reviewer!!!!!!!!! Weasley's Wildfire Wizbang fireworks go off all over I even put the word ginormous, which isn't even a word, to represent how awesome you are! You win a free hug next time I see you! And also this gigantic shout out in front of this chapter. I dedicate chapter 23 to you. It is about toast. YEAH TOAST! **

**But seriously, I am going to congratulate myself also. Daaaaaang 100 reviews!**

**Toast the Muggle Way**

I was not sorry to leave the Knight Bus behind me as I walked to the Evans's front stoop. It was a modest house in the suburbs, nothing extraordinary and nothing too dull. I liked Mr. Evans right away when he opened the door and stared at me in fright through horn rimmed glasses. He reminded me a bit of a turtle, his long neck not very well hidden in a turtle-necked sweater.

"You-you must be Lucy," he stammered, reaching out to shake my hand.

"Mr. Evans," I smiled, taking it. He had obviously had very little contact with the wizarding world and was a bit uncomfortable around me, but I found it amusing and shrugged it off.

Lily bounced up to the door behind him. "Don't leave her standing out in the cold, Pop. Come on in, Lucy."

I thanked Mr. Evans politely and followed Lily up to her room on the second floor. It was a very square and orderly room, exactly how I thought Lily's room must be. The walls were a clean shade of blue and everything else was white. I wondered how she kept it so clean. There was a large portrait of her family hanging on the wall. Lily looked exactly like her mother.

"You can throw your stuff on the top bunk, if you want. It was my older sister, Petunia's, but she just got married and moved out a few months ago."

I thought about how miserable I was living with no siblings and felt for her. "Oh, you must be sad."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "Not really. We haven't gotten along since she found out I was a witch."

"I wonder why not?"

"She's not a big fan of anything out of the ordinary, that's all. Lot's of people don't like the idea. I've learned to live with it."

"You're father even seemed a bit weirded out having two witches here tonight."

Lily shrugged. "He's just not used to me having people over. I've always been his little girl, since mom died, and it depresses him to see that I have friends and a boyfriend and might also leave him some day." She laughed at the idea.

I didn't really know how to respond to that, so I changed the subject. I saw her bookshelf, unsurprisingly full to bursting with thick and boring looking text-books. I saw the one that James had given her as a peace offering earlier that year. "That lunatic boyfriend of yours didn't feed me. Do you have anything I could eat?"

"Sure. I'm going to pack my trunk for tomorrow. There's stuff to make a sandwich in the kitchen, and if you want to toast the bread, there is a toaster there too."

"A what?"

"It's this silver box with a bread-sized slot. You put the bread in the slot and push the lever down, and then it toasts the bread without fire. It's on top of the microwave."

"The what?"

"Big black box with a screen that warms food if you open the door and put it inside."

"Neat!" I bounded down the stairs, eager to use the fancy muggle contraption. I found the bread, peanut butter, and fruit spread in the cupboard, but after a solid search, the elusive toasting box was nowhere to be found. I went into the next room.

"Aha!" I saw the big black box, and next to it, the smaller silver one with a bread-sized slot. I pushed the bread into the slot and looked for the lever to toast it.

"Confounded muggle nonsense…" There was no lever, but there were a bunch of little buttons with symbols on them. I didn't know what they meant. One symbol was an arrow pointing forward, so I pushed that one. I heard a whirring noise and assumed the thing was working.

"Lily!" I shouted up the stairs. "How do you know when the toast is finished?"

I heard her voice carry down the stairs. "It just pops out of the slot!"

I thought that was pretty awesome. Maybe muggles weren't so stupid.

But then I changed my mind because I waited and waited and the toast did not pop out. I figured it must just take a long time to toast things without magic and went to see what Lily was up to.

She was just putting the last of her things into her trunk and zipping it shut.

I decided that for the first time in my life, I would make an attempt at girl talk. "So Lily, how are things with you and James?"

"I don't know. I guess they are alright."

"You're absolutely glowing. I think they are more than alright." I winked at her.

She looked at me for a moment and broke into a grin, bubbling over. "It's too perfect! If you had told me a year ago that I would have fallen for James Potter so hard, I would have probably sent you to St. Mungo's, but now… it's just too perfect. He's sweet and smart and gorgeous… I don't know what took me so long. I guess he used to be such a prat, but now…"

"He was never a prat. I just don't think you knew him too well, and he comes off a little… I don't know. He's just James."

"Yeah. There's no other word that could describe him."

I smiled. "You know he's been head over heels for you since the beginning."

She shook her head. "I can't understand that. He should have given up so long ago."

"But you're glad he didn't."

"So glad!" She fell into a stuffed armchair behind her.

"Good. You two are perfect together, I've never seen him so happy."

She smiled and leaned towards me a bit. "Speaking of perfect for each other, what about… you know…"

I gave her a puzzled look and she raised her eyebrows at me. "You and Remus?"

I laughed nervously. "What do you mean?"

"Come _on_, Lucy. I wasn't born yesterday. I see how you look at him when you don't think he can see."

"Oh? And how do I look at him?"

She seemed to be searching for a good description. "It's like the look James used to give that dumb racing broom through the window at the Pitch, before he got it for Christmas. Like he was looking at the most valuable thing on earth and he wasn't allowed to even touch it."

"You mean the look James had when he stared at you all those times?"

She blushed. "The very same."

I laughed. "You just think that because James probably told you that's what he thinks. It's not true, of course."

She gave me a "_yeah, right_" look and smirked at me, that same knowing look James used at the luau when _he_ figured it out. I knew that she knew. James, that traitor.

"Fine, believe what you want, and I will neither confirm nor deny the presence of a crush on Remus Lupin."

She bounced in her seat. "I knew it!"

I glared.

"If it makes you feel better, he looks at you the same way. All the time."

I rolled my eyes. "Remus likes everyone. That's just how he is."

"Not the way he likes you."

"Believe me. He likes me. He just doesn't like me 'like that'."

"'Like that?' Like what?"

"Like crush like. _Like_ like."

"James told me you were being really stubborn about this."

I glared again.

She shrugged. "Believe what you want. But wouldn't it be awful to just never know…?" She let herself trail off.

"Never know what?"

"To never know what could have happened if you had told him how you felt."

I looked up at her and she held my gaze for a moment. Could she be right?

The silence was broken by a knock on the door.

"Lily?" came a muffled voice through the white-washed wooden door.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Why is there bread stuffed in the VCR?"

**A/N: Tee hee. I know I promised you all an update on Wednesday. That is now more of a possibility than a promise, because I am updating right now instead, and it is only a few minutes _before_ Wednesday. **

**Hey guys, I put up another LJ one-shot. It's called the Killing Curse, but trust me, it's not as morbid as it sounds. It's actually a regular fluff-type fic, having nothing to do with anyone dying, so no worries! It can be found in my C2, Marauder Medley, which I will once again demand you all subscribe to. Thanks! **

**Review! **

**And now... a moment of silence please, in honor of the late Heath Ledger. Mankind's average "gorgeous" level just dropped severely.**


	24. Why They Call it Falling

**Why They Call it Falling**

The rest of the sleepover was fun, and Lily and I were very tired when we headed back to school the next day. I couldn't find the Marauders, which made me think that Remus wasn't recovering well from the full moon this month. I didn't see them when I arrived at Hogwarts, nor the next day. The first day back from school was a Monday. Generally, Monday is a very dreary day, and this was the dreariest Monday I could remember because at 11:30 at night, my astrology class went outside to study the stars.

In January. In the freezing rain.

I twisted the lens of my telescope in an attempt to see _anything _clearly, but through some combination of the sleet and clouds, not a single star could be seen. I rolled my eyes. Professor Stratus was the battiest woman I have ever met, and was asking us to study the sky like she was unaware that it was pouring slush down on us in buckets.

"Please take out your color-coded solar system charts and take a look at the inner planets. Can anyone tell me what the map tells us about Mars?"

Melanie raised her hand. "The purple spots are primary crust, and the orange parts are volcanic plains."

"Right. Now, can anyone tell my why, in contrast, the diagram has the moon of Mars shaded mostly yellow? Miss Brown, perhaps?"

Of course I had been busy wiping the lens of my telescope and had not heard the question. "Umm… what?"

"The moon, Miss Brown. Why is it yellow?"

"Because it's made of cheese?"

Professor Stratus frowned at me. "Perhaps you will take this class a bit more seriously when a giant asteroid knocks the earth out of its orbit and we go spiraling into the sun!"

"Perhaps, but most likely I won't care because I will be dead, and I don't see how knowing about Mars's moon will save me in the event of a giant asteroid attack."

I thought it was a clever answer, but the professor gave me a detention for the next evening for being "cheeky, insubordinate, and disrespectful." Translation: I got detention because my professor has no sense of humor. I pouted as we all marched back inside and I went to bed feeling very grumpy indeed. Luckily, Moonie was stretched out on my bed and she was great at cuddling when I was in a bad mood.

I had a lot of homework to do the next day, so by the time I headed for detention, I was fed up and wanted a break. I was supposed to go to the front entrance of the school, where I would meet the prefect that was overseeing my detention. This was not good news, as it probably meant my detention was out on the grounds, and it was still sleeting.

I turned the corner, and not only was the prefect overseeing my detention not a Slytherin, it was none other that Remus Lupin! He greeted me with a grin and I threw my arms around him.

"Why didn't you _tell_ me that you were doing detentions tonight? I was worried about it all day!"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"You did!"

He put on a very serious face. "Now, this is still detention. Don't think I'm going easy on you. You need to suffer the consequences for your actions. What exactly did you do?"

"I told Professor Stratus that the moon was made of cheese."

"Good one," he said cracking a grin briefly before stowing it away again. "Not that I condone your misbehavior."

"So, Sergeant Mooney, what exactly _are_ the consequences of my actions?"

He gave me a grave look. "You, Miss Brown, have the unpleasant task of helping me sort the school brooms… without magic!"

"What does that entail?"

He winked at me. "We test ride all the brooms and make sure they work."

"Oh _no_!"

"_Oh yes._" He said very seriously. And then we both burst out laughing.

"Nice one, Mooney, how did you pull that one off?"

"Well Professor Stratus told me I had to come up with a good detention for a student who disregards the importance of the cosmic powers of the sky, so I suggested that testing the school brooms in the awful weather should make the student respect the sky more. Of course I knew it was you, because you told us you had detention at lunch, and that you wouldn't mind going for a broom ride with me at all."

"Mooney… this is why you are the best person in the world."

"Thanks."

We stepped out the heavy doors into the unrelenting curtain of rain, which had us drenched through our clothes in .02 seconds flat (I counted).

It was a bit of a walk to the quidditch pitch, especially when we were battling the muck that was sucking our feet down. I noticed that despite Remus's insisting that this was to be done without magic, he was still drying the water in front of us as we walked. I smiled in thanks.

"How's Moonie doing at Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Oh… well, she's very sweet, but my dorm mates don't really appreciate her. She kind of likes to eat people's blankets."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I love her! She always makes me feel better, and is without a doubt the best Christmas present I've ever gotten."

"I'm glad… although that does explain…" he trailed off.

"What?"

"Well, the last time the heads and prefects met with the faculty, someone had started a petition to only allow cats, owls, and toads as pets in the school because everything else was a nuisance, and it passed for next year."

"Oh no! Well, that is probably because of Moonie. Too bad… she can't come with me next year!"

"That's ok. She can stay with me while you're at school because I will have graduated."

I frowned. "I keep forgetting… Hogwarts just won't be the same next year without you guys."

He put his arm around me and squeezed. "Don't be sad. We'll come by every weekend and we can all have sleep-overs in the Shrieking Shack."

"Sounds like a plan."

We arrived at the broom shed beside the pitch and Remus flung the doors open. I reached through the cobwebs and grabbed the two brooms nearest to the door, tossing one to Remus. He threw his leg over it and gave me a mischievous look. "Race you around the center goal post and back to here!"

And he took off. Punk.

I leaped onto my broom and shot off after him. I gained on him, squinting through the poor visibility, and we both reached the goalpost at the same time, rounding it in different directions. I could barely see though the sleet and didn't realize where I was headed until too late. With a loud crack, my broom slammed into Remus's, and I went spiraling on half a broomstick towards the ground, fifty feet below. I was about to crash when I felt the air cushioning below me and I hit the ground with only half the force I was expecting, tumbling into the base of the goal post and hitting my head on it with a thud.

"Owwwww," I moaned, rubbing my head. I was seeing spots, and something in my hair felt hot and sticky.

Remus had chased me down and jumped from his broomstick while he was still five feet off the ground, sprinting towards me.

"Lucy! Lucy, are you ok? Say something!"

I looked at his face, which was a tad blurry, and saw that he was very concerned indeed. I attempted a smile to reassure him. "I'm ok, but my head hurts from hitting the post. And also I think I hit my leg on your broomstick."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Four. I'm fine, Remus, don't be dumb."

"It's two…"

I started to stand up and everything around me started flashing and tilted sideways, throwing me to the ground.

In an instant, Remus was by my side, his face white. "Lucy, your head is bleeding! I'm taking you to the hospital wing right now."

"I'm fine…" I tried to bat him away, but he scooped me up, princess style, and set off for the castle.

I was going to protest, but my eyelids felt so heavy that I didn't think I could. "I'm really tired. I'm just going to…." I laid my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

"Don't you dare fall asleep." His voice rang with alarm.

"But I'm so sleepy…"

"You probably have a concussion, and you can't fall asleep on me."

He sounded very far away.

"Stay awake, Lucy. If you stay awake, I will get you ice cream when we get to the castle."

"With fudge?"

"Hot fudge. And cherries."

I smiled. I was pretty sure I was already asleep and dreaming. My head hurt pretty badly but I was so lovely comfortable in his arms. "I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue, Mooney. Did you know I could do that?"

"I know. You showed James and he almost wet himself, remember?"

"James is very good looking. So is Sirius. And you. You are very good looking. But Peter isn't. How sad."

"You're batty in the head."

"I fell off my broomstick. Why do you suppose they call it falling?"

"You're not making any sense, Lucy. Call what falling?"

"Falling in love. You know everything, Mooney. I bet you know."

He was quiet for a minute. When he spoke again, he sounded like he was speaking to me from the end of a very long tunnel. "Don't you dare fall asleep…"

"I am asleep," I mumbled.

"What? Wake up, Lucy…"

"Remus, you smell like quaffle. And rain. You've got rain all over you."

"Lucy, please don't fall asleep…"

But everything went very dark, so I'm pretty sure I did.

**A/N: She died! Ok just kidding. Review. **


	25. WakeUp Call

**A/N: Sorry about the wait, guys! Been busy with work and school as well as unmotivated. Shame on me. Happy slightly-belated birthday To Pennylane975!**

**Wake-Up Call**

It took me a moment to realize where I was when I opened my eyes. At first I thought I must have somehow gotten very drunk and was suffering from the worst hangover imaginable, but then the memories from the accident came flooding back and the blackout and serious headache I was experiencing made sense.

I blinked into the bright whiteness of the hospital wing as things around me swam into focus. I heard something stir beside me, but I couldn't seem to make my head turn towards the source of the disturbance. I strained to peak out the corner of my eyes and immediately wished I hadn't.

The source of the disturbance was James and Lily snogging.

I found my voice. "Oi!"

They sprung apart like they'd been shocked. "O-oh Lucy, you're awake!" Lily stammered, flushing.

James gave me a lopsided smile, unfazed. "Good to see you up again."

I rolled my eyes. "Some kind of welcome back! I wake up to find you two are already busy making my replacement!"

"Awwww, Goose. Don't be that way. We're just happy you're okay."

"Yeah…" I sighed, trying to gather my thoughts. "What… happened?"

"Well, from what we gathered from Remus, you were racing and he hit you and you fell and he brought you here."

"I knew that part, I meant after that. And he didn't hit me; we came around the pole the same way and collided. There wasn't anything he could have done… if anything, it was my fault."

"Well he felt pretty guilty, especially since you cracked your skull, but Poppy was able to fix him up right away."

"What happened to him?"

"He dislocated his shoulder."

My eyes shot open as wide as they'd go. "But… he carried me all the way here!"

James shrugged.

"Where is he now?"

"We've all been taking turns sitting here overnight, but we thought he should go eat something. He looked a bit peaky after having his shoulder snapped back in, but it was tough convincing him to go."

"I see. I'm hungry too; I think I'll go meet him."

I tried to stand to leave, but my body just didn't want to cooperate. I groaned. "James, please bring me a taco and some coffee."

"Strange combination. You're not supposed to be eating anything yet, but I'll go get the guys. They'll want to know you're up." He stood up, gave Lily a peck on the forehead, and trotted towards the door.

I glared after him, starving and aching and rather moody.

Lily was looking at me with raised eyebrows. "Perhaps…"

"What?"

"Here. Let me clean you up. You're still covered in mud and blood and your hair sticks up funny over the bandage…" as she said theses things, I saw her wave her wand around me and began to feel slightly more human, like my skin could breathe again.

"Thanks Lily," I sighed.

"No problem. I couldn't let you face Remus like that…" she gave me a wink. I gave her a warning look as the four Marauders came dashing into the wing. As per usual, they made such an obnoxious racket that I had to point to my bandaging to remind them of my headache. They fell silent and walked cautiously to my bed.

"How are you Lucy?!" Wormtail asked in a loud, raspy whisper.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, thanks," I replied in a regular voice.

"Are you sure?" Remus asked, his face pale. I noticed that he must have changed because he wasn't soaking wet anymore and he was wearing that green shirt that I liked so much.

"My head hurts a little but other than that I'm good. James was right, though, you're looking a bit white. Didn't you eat anything at breakfast?"

"I… didn't feel like it."

"Well, I'm fine now, so you should stop worrying and eat. And James wouldn't bring me a taco or coffee, so will you?"

"You're really not supposed to..." I pouted and he relented. "Fine, I'll find a taco." He turned around and walked out the door, glancing back as if he were making sure I was still there.

"James and I will go too, we haven't been down to eat yet," Lily said, grabbing James's hand and leading him to the door.

"Glad you're ok, Lucy!" James shouted behind him.

"I'm going too," grunted Peter. "Bye bye Lucy."

"Bye, Pete."

When they had all gone, Sirius hopped onto my bed, causing some slight uncomfortable jarring in my head region. "Sirius, do you mind?"

"Not at all. So, what exactly were you and Remus doing out in the rain on broomsticks?"

"I was serving detention."

"Sounds like a rough detention. I didn't think that your little astronomy class indiscretion was enough to warrant sending you to the hospital wing."

I laughed. "Well, astronomy is a very serious subject."

"And what do the stars say today?"

"They say if Remus doesn't show up here with a taco in three minutes, I'm going to apparate to Mexico and get my own no matter how bad my head hurts."

"Did the stars tell you that you were going to fall in love?"

I squinted at him ad though I couldn't see him. "What in the bloody world are you talking about? I'm very ill and you need to speak more clearly."

"I'm talking about all that you told Remus when you were hit on the head."

I felt a peculiar and uncomfortable sensation my stomach and a slow heat creeping out from under my collar. "What do you mean? What did I say?" _Oh no oh no oh no!_

"Nothing too important. You told him he smelled like rain and quaffles. You said you figured out that your Amortentia smelled like his cologne and you said that you thought his eyes were a very nice color. Oh, and you said that everyone was good looking except Peter. Oh, and you told him that he looked good in green."

"I don't remember any of that!"

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Well… I suppose I remember the quaffle part… but we'd been in the Quidditch shed… and I'd been hit on the head!"

"Oh. Well, he'll be glad to know that you weren't in your right mind when you told Poppy that you wanted to be alone with him so you could thank him properly…" he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"I said WHAT?!"

"You said no such thing," chimed Remus, walking into the door with a plate of fabulous smelling Mexican food. "Sirius, you know better than to joke with her when she's in this condition."

"You mean… I didn't…?" Sirius was shaking with laughter. I pushed myself into an upright position and smacked as hard as I could (which wasn't very hard).

He burst out in his trademark barking laughter and rose from the bed. "I'm heading down to finish breakfast, too. See you guys later." He glanced over to Remus and saw that he was preoccupied with conjuring some plates and flatware to eat the house-elf prepared feast he had brought, so Sirius leaned over and whispered in Lucy's ear. "Fine, you didn't tell Madam Pomphrey you wanted to shag him. But everything else was true."

My eyes grew wide and I felt my collar heating up again.

Sirius stood and winked at me, heading for the door. When he was even with the doorway, he paused and called back into the room, grinning wickedly. "Hey Remus? That's a nice shirt, mate."

Remus paused what he was doing and looked down at his shirt, tugging at the green material in confusion. "Thank you?" He looked at me and shrugged as Sirius disappeared out of the room.

I just looked at him giggled weakly.


	26. A New Leaf

**A/N: So I'm sorry I took an age and a half to update. I've been really really busy... and I'm ashamed and no that's no excuse. Well, you might want to look back and remember where we were in the story. In fact, I highly recommend it. Oh, adn if you forgot to review, you should take care of that. Ok? Pur-lease?**

**A New Leaf**

_So what if I said it? It's about time I actually said what I was really thinking. And it was justified… he does look dang good in green. Besides, he's wearing the green shirt, on purpose, I think. Remus would never mock me, so he must be wearing it because…_

"Not hungry?"

I looked up, startled. 

He raised his eyebrows teasingly. "Sometimes I don't think you listen to a word I say."

_Oh contraire…_

"No, I'm just a little queasy I suppose."

"I thought you wanted tacos. Do you want me to find something else? Maybe you want breakfast instead?"

I shook my head. "I'm just shaken up, I reckon. I'm sorry, it was very sweet of you to get this all for me."

"Or… I did promise you ice cream."

"When?"

"When I carried you back. Don't you remember?"

"No."

"You don't remember… anything?"�His fishing tone�made me wonder what Sirius had left out.

"I remember us colliding and falling, and I remember you carrying me and telling me not to fall asleep."

"Yeah," he said slowly. "That's what happened. I'm really sorry, I should have known better than to make you do something dangerous like that."

"Remus, I can fly a broom, and you know perfectly well that it wasn't your fault."

He gave me a skeptical look and I sighed. 

"You don't have to believe me if you don't want, but I know you would never do anything to hurt me. Besides, if you hadn't been there to carry me back, who knows what would have happened? Even with your arm hurt…"

He shrugged. "It wasn't too bad."

"Remus, you popped your shoulder out of socket."

"I didn't even know anything was wrong with me until I go to the castle. I was too worried about you. Besides, I'm fine now, as you can see."

I smiled up at him. "My hero."

At that moment, Madam Pomphrey came bustling in to the room, shooing Remus away from my bed and tsking over my condition. "Racing broomsticks in gale-force winds, I don't know what you were thinking…" she muttered, unwrapping my bandages and prodding at the back of my head. "The bone is completely mended now, and we got dittany on the wound fast enough to keep it from permanently scarring. Here are some more potions for the pain, and when you have finished taking those, you are free to go."

"_Joy_," I sighed. "Just in time for classes."

Madam Pomphrey rolled her eyes. "If you hadn't gotten detention, then you wouldn't have been in here in the first place. Don't try to convince me that any of you kids care about your studies." She paused and ruffled Remus's hair. "Except you, Remus dear." She turned and left the hospital wing, Remus and I staring after her in disbelief. 

I looked at Remus and started to laugh. "I swear… the entire faculty in this whole school secretly wants to shag you."

He snorted. "Whatever."

"Seriously, Remus, Poppy just gave you 'the eye.' It made me wonder what you're really up to when you spend all those nights in the hospital wing."

"Shut up and take your potions."

"Aggghhh potions!"

"What's the matter?"

I sighed deeply. "I have potions first thing this morning. In an hour. I hate potions…"

He gave me a sympathetic look. Then another look popped onto his face, like a light turning on. "I have a great idea!"

"What?"

"Let's not bother with classes today and spend the day having fun. We could… we could take the cloak and the map and go into Hogsmeade!"

I stared at him in silence. 

He stared back. "What's wrong?"

"I must have hit my head harder than I thought."

He laughed. "Is it so unlikely that I would want to goof off for once?"

"No. So unlikely would be Voldemort going light and making soft-core porn with Peter as his new career. _This_ is just plain unbelievable!"

He shook his head, grabbed my shoulders, leaning down to my face level. "I was so worried about you all night. Seeing you laying there, with a serious look on your face for the first time in your life, made me crazy. I don't want to worry about anything today."

"Mmmkay," I muttered, taken off guard by his sudden move towards me. 

We stood like that for a second when he stood up straight, letting his arms fall at his sides. "So…."

I took a deep breath to recover, glanced up at him, and grinned. "Let's go! Skipping class, sneaking out, breaking rules… Remus Lupin has turned over a new leaf!" With one gulp, I downed my pain potion a leapt up from the bed. The room spun for a quick second, but quickly righted itself. I flashed him a grin and headed for the door, him close behind.

On my way to the door, I caught my reflection in the window and gasped. There were still traces of mud on my face and my hair was lying in all directions from the bandage. My clothes had been magically dried, but were still caked in dried dirt. I looked like a wreck.

"I can't go like _this_!"

He tipped his head. "Why not? I don't mind."

"Right… but we don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves in the village," I covered.

"Oh, good point. Alright then, go clean up. I'll meet you by the old witch statue in twenty minutes, ok?"

"Ok. Thanks for everything, Remus."

He looked a bit puzzled but nodded, and we walked out the door, parting ways at the end of the hallway to go to our separate dorms. 

I spent an uncharacteristic amount of time washing my hair and getting dressed. I couldn't seem to decide on what to wear, since we would obviously look like skippers if we went out in our school robes. I sighed. Remus didn't need to change his clothes because he already had that morning. At least I hoped he wouldn't change. 

Then I had an idea. 

_There's a chance that him wearing that green shirt was a complete coincidence. But then again… just in case it wasn't…_

I dug deep into my trunk, feeling around for that article of clothing that I hadn't worn in several months, since my date with Owen. I smiled when I felt the soft cotton against my fingertips and pulled the little black dress out.

It wasn't fair how he tortured me by wearing that shirt. And if he wasn't going to play fair, then neither was I.


	27. The Second Date That Wasn't A Date

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, loves... but this loooong chapter will most certainly help my case, right? Let me know in a review when you finish, please?**

**The Second Date That Wasn't A Date**

"What, no more mud?" he asked as I bounced towards him where he waited by the one-eyed witch statue. "The mud was such a good touch."

"Sorry to disappoint."

"What's the occasion for the dress?"

"I…" I hadn't considered how to explain my clothing choice to him and had to think fast. "I figure the day Remus Lupin willingly skips class is the day Lucy Brown willingly wears a dress. Besides, I've worn this every time I've been to Hogsmeade this year."

"Which was… once?"

"Technicality. You brought the invisibility cloak?"

He reached into his robe pocket and whipped out the silvery fabric, which sparkled and rippled like water in the dim lit hall. The Marauder's Map fell out of its folds and fluttered to the ground. He bent to pick it up.

I noticed his attire with disappointment. "Why are you wearing your school robes to Hogsmeade?" I asked.

"Oh, I've got jeans and a shirt on underneath. I'm going to leave them in the tunnel. I had to get past James and Sirius and Peter without them asking questions so I said I was going to the library. They would never follow me there."

That was a curious thing for him to do. "Why don't you want them along?"

He hesitated. "Oh… I just feel that they've already missed far too much school this term."

"I see."

Maybe I was being hopeful… or was that really a blush creeping up his neck? He turned away to open the passageway before I could decide for sure. I shrugged and slid in after him. We took our time wandering through the dark passage, talking about quidditch and classes and Professor Kettleburn's mustache (only remarkable and conversation worthy because she was, in fact, a woman). I wasn't worried that we would run out of things to talk about because Remus and I _never_ run out of things to talk about.

When we reached the end of the passage, he threw the invisibility cloak over us and I slowly pushed up the trapdoor in the Honeyduke's floor. When we had affirmed that the coast was clear, we climbed out and slipped into the sweet scented cellar.

When we got into the main part of the store, we pulled the cloak off and shopped at our leisure. I headed straight for the every flavor beans bins, because they were my favorites. Most people were wary of them because of the uncertainty that comes with eating them, but I loved it. Also, I was an expert at detecting exactly what flavor the bean would be _before_ I ate it. It was a handy skill to have. I walked up the great big barrels and sifted through them with a scoop, occasionally dropping one into a plastic bag or sniffing it if I was unsure of the flavor.

Remus walked up behind me and watched as I puzzled over an unfamiliar white bean. "Marshmallow?" he suggested.

I shrugged, surreptitiously glanced around, and gave it a quick lick. "Yuck. Chalk dust," I spluttered, tossing the bean back into the bin.

Remus dropped his jaw. "You can't put a bean back in after you've licked it!"

"Why not? It was a gross flavor anyway."

He stared in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes. "Why don't you ever try these? Some of them are quite good."

"Because I'm scared I'll get a nasty one. And who knows… someone might have _licked one and dropped it back in the bin_!"

"What kind of sick person would do that?" I asked innocently, handing him a bean. "Here, it's apple pie. You love apple pie."

He looked at it warily and took it from my hand, dropping it into his mouth hesitantly. After a slight pause, he broke into a grin. "It _is_ apple pie. How do you do that?"

"Talent."

"Maybe I should try some, because that was really good." He picked through the beans for himself, settling on a pale orange one. "What's this, some kind of fruit?"

I looked at it. "I think it's raw pumpkin."

"Ew." The next bean, he bravely nibbled without my permission. "This is good. Familiar. I can't really place it."

"Umm, I don't know," I offered vaguely, but I did know. It was strawberry daiquiri, which Remus had only tasted once, in my lip gloss. I didn't want to bring that up again.

He dug some more, pulling out a blue bean with white swirls. "What about this?"

I didn't recognize it, so I gave it a sniff. "Yumm!" I said. "It's toothpaste. It's the same flavor as your toothpaste, I think."

He gave me a strange look and ate the bean thoughtfully. "How do you know what my toothpaste tastes like?"

"Because… when I stayed at your house once, I used it," I finished lamely. I really did not want to bring up the real reason I knew… that kiss on our "date" with Lily and James, but he seemed to remember it anyway from the way he turned bright red after a moment's thought.

"Well," I said, abruptly trying to change the subject. "I could use a butterbeer. I spent all night in the hospital wing in cold, wet clothes and think I deserve it."

"Alright, but since it's my fault you were in the hospital wing in the first place, I'm buying."

"You most certainly are not, and it is not your fault," I said, looking at him impatiently. "Stop coddling me like you're my brother or something, Remus. You're not." I turned and headed towards the checkout to buy the beans I had chosen, leaving Remus behind in thought.

"Your brother? No… I most certainly am not your brother." He tagged after me. "Although, I might as well be."

I handed the beans to the grumpy looking warlock behind the counter. "What do you mean?" I replied absently, counting out a few knuts.

"I mean you think of me as a brother. All of us, James and Sirius and Peter, too. And that's great. That's all I meant."

I was suddenly paying rather close attention to what he was saying. "Of course," I replied after a long pause. I looked up at him and grinned to hide my lie. "The best family anyone could ask for."

We crossed the street to The Three Broomsticks pub and slid into our favorite booth in the corner, where much plotting had gone down over the years with me and "my family." The barmaid's daughter, Rosmerta, hustled right over to us and leaned up against the end of our table, snapping a wad of Drooble's gun and twisting a golden curl of hair around her finger.

"Hey there, Ros, what's up," I asked, knowing Remus was not one to strike up a conversation with a girl, especially not one as stunning as Rosmerta.

"Oh, the same as always. Sirius not coming out with you today?"

"No, I'm afraid not. He's been quite busy lately with—"

Remus cleared his throat. I realized it might not be advisable to tell Ros that Sirius had already moved on to more local flavor.

"—With school, and stuff." I finished lamely.

She snapped her gum again. "I expected as much, since he said he'd owl and hasn't yet. 'He must be busy with school and stuff,' I told myself. Well, have a nice day."

I noticed, rather unhappily, that Remus was watching her go with a sort of wistful look on his face. "Oh no, not you too," I groaned.

He seemed to snap out of some kind of reverie. "What?"

"I saw you watching her walk away like that."

"Like… oh, no. Not like _that_. It's just frustrating, you know?"

I gave him my best confused look. "No, I don't really know."

"Sirius. He's my best mate, but I can't help getting a little jealous. He's got pretty girls like Rosmerta lined up, just hoping for a chance. Even James… I mean, I know he's got Lily, but he could have anyone, really. I may not be idolized as some gift to women kind, and I might be the 'shy, bookish one' or whatever rot label I've been given, but I am not completely without… I don't know."

"I'm afraid I don't follow—"

"And even if I did find a girl who, say, I could talk to, and was funny and smart and would have the brain malfunction to choose me over Sirius or James, I would have to tell her about my… lycanthropic tendencies… to become a mad hairy beast once a month. And then I would loose her."

"Well, you'll have to remind her that most girls turn into mad beasts once a month too, so she would be no better."

He cracked me an "oh, please," sardonic smile. "It doesn't matter. I won't ever have to tell a girl because like I said, who would pick me? If I were James or Sirius, then maybe. If I were James or Sirius, then I could even have a chance with—"

He fell silent. I felt my stomach to one of those uncomfortable turns. _So he likes someone_.

"Who?"

"What?"

"Who is she?"

"Who is who?"

"Remus, you can tell me."

He opened his mouth for a moment, and then snapped it shut. "Oh," he said. "That. I just meant, I could have a chance with anyone." He fell briefly silent, staring out the window. "It might rain again. We should probably head home."

He paid for our butterbeers, and I let him. I followed him silently out the door and into the street. The clouds were already releasing a few scattered sprinkles as we headed for Hogwarts, settling the dust around us. I saw him pull his collar up around his neck to guard from the sudden chill.

We were taking the Whomping Willow passage back from the shrieking shack because we knew it would be much more difficult to sneak in to the Honeyduke's cellar than out of it. The forest path to the shrieking shack was much less windy, even though the rain was beginning to fall in earnest through the bare trees. I was starting to shiver as it soaked through my dress and caused the black fabric to cling to my legs as I scurried to keep up.

"Remus, please wait up. Tell me what's the matter!"

He stopped and turned towards me patiently as I ran up to him. "I'm fine. I'm fine, and I'm sorry for going ahead of you like that. I am just a bit down on myself today."

"But why? Why do you think that you aren't as good as them?"

"Because they are—"

"No, Remus, they are not! Would you just listen to me?!"

He fell silent and stared at me like he'd been smacked because I rarely yelled at him. He nodded slowly, giving me hesitant permission to continue.

"Ok. You are the most amazing guy I know. You are brilliant, and not just book smart like some people say. You know how to make anything right, how to make me laugh even when you are trying to be serious. You stay up until three AM sometimes just to help me write an essay that I should have done days earlier and you don't even make a fuss! You are they bravest guy I know… you carried me almost a half a mile with your arm out of socket, Remus! And who else could go through what you do every month and not become some kind of bitter, deplorable person? No one could, Remus, and that's just what I'm trying to say. You are my best friend because you are the best person I know. And not attractive… not attractive my arse, Remus. You have brown eyes a girl could get lost in and you smell fantastic and look very, very good in green. Like that shirt you're wearing right now."

I stopped for a breath and glanced at him, catching his eye. He had that look again, that aced a final, caught a goal, quiet kind of smile that always made me stop what I was doing and look for what was making him smile that way.

"I wore it because you had said you liked it."

We stood there for a long moment; the only sound was the rain splashing off the world around us. I shook my head, trying to shake off some of the water and the fuzzy feeling in my brain, sending a chunk of hair into my face.

Remus finally broke the silence. "So, you really mean all that? About being your best friend and all?"

"Most of it."

His face fell. "Oh?"

"Just not the one part."

"What one part?" he said dully.

"The_ friend_ part." _Did I really just say that?_

He gave me a puzzled look, reaching towards me and softly brushing the hair from my face so he could read my expression better.

"I don't think I'm brave. You're the only one who has ever really called me brave. I think I am a coward."

I shook my head. "But why? When every month, you have to—"

"I never have the guts to say the things I want to say the most."

He was confusing me now more than ever. "I don't read you."

He stared at me, confusing me all the more with his silence. _If he really has something to say, this would be the time. This strange, heavy silence_. But he didn't say anything. Instead, we stood listening to the rain crashing down around us for several long seconds while I stared in bemusement and he opened his mouth several times to speak, snapping it quickly shut again. He took a deep breath and stared at his feet.

I sighed in disappointment. "Remus, I—"

I stopped when he looked up. He wore a different look than I'd ever seen before, a simple and resolved look, and in one quick movement, he stepped forward, pulled me to him, and put his lips on mine.


	28. Lovely Insanity

**Lovely Insanity**

My entire body stiffened as he slid one hand on my lower back and another tangled in my hair. I forgot about the rain as the air around us seemed to all but freeze solid so I could hardly breathe. It was like being hit on the head again… the shivers through my body and the lights twinkling in front of my eyes… only without the pain. My mind could barely process what was happening before Remus leaned back, breaking his lips away from mine and leaving me hanging in the air like I had done to him so many nights ago on his sofa for James and Lily.

Our eyes met for a moment, and His short span of confidence, or perhaps recklessness, from the moment before seemed to fade and his eyes widened in panic. He turned away from me slightly and he rubbed his neck. "I'm—" he shook his head, hardly daring to believe what he'd done. "I'm so sorry, Lucy."

Before I could gather my thoughts, he was walking away.

The moment he was removed from my immediate proximity, I could suddenly think clearly. I remembered it was raining buckets down my robes. I remembered that we were terribly late for dinner and people were probably worrying about us. I realized with a pang that Remus had kissed me, and now he was walking away. And then of course I knew that I had to stop him.

"Remus!"

He kept walking.

"Remus! I—" I frantically tossed around for something to say. "I meant everything I said when I fell of the broom."

He slowed to a stop, his back still to me.

"I have been frightened to tell you, and I could only do it after I'd busted my head, but I'm not afraid anymore. I think you look good in green and you smell like quaffles and rain. I think you are better looking than Sirius and James and Owen. And Peter," I put in as an afterthought. "I would love very much for you to take me for that ice cream sundae you promised. And if I had to crack my skull every time, it still wouldn't stop me from wanting to go flying with you."

He finally turned to face me, still rubbing his neck like he does when he's embarrassed. "So… you really meant that all. It was all true."

I blushed. "Almost… except when I said that I only kissed you that night to help James. I kissed you because you make me loose my mind, like you did just now. And it was the most lovely insanity I have ever experienced."

He nodded, his mouth slightly open in surprise, and took a step back towards me. "I meant it too. I also think… I think you look beautiful in that dress, even when you look like you've been swimming in it."

"Really? I didn't think you…"

"I only acted like I didn't because you were wearing it for Owen and I was jealous as hell."

"Oh." I started to smile.

He smiled back. "So just to be clear this time, with no more lies… what does this mean?"

I thought for a moment and decided for the no nonsense approach. "I like you."

"Like…"

"Like that."

He grinned. "I like you too… like that."

So then we stood there grinning madly at each other. "Well," he said matter-of-factly, "now that that is all cleared up…"

This time when he kissed me, neither of us had any reason to object.

"Remus," I said, breaking apart for a breath, "has anyone ever told you that you look just like Christmas?"

He frowned. "You are positively batty."

"It's possibl—" I was cut off by a kiss.

**A/N: The end! Ok... not really. There will be one more chapter (30) for you guys to look forward to, probably within the next couple days. Just so you don't get too excited, the 29th chapter won't be a chapter at all, more of an author's note. Read or don't read, the choice is yours. That way we can round off at 30 chapters... won't that be nice?**


	29. A Word from the Author

**A/N:**

**A Word from the Author (or many words)**

**Hey guys, this chapter is just an author's note because I didn't want to put it in the upcoming final chapter. It would feel so anticlimactic. There will still be a final chapter after this, so no worries.**

**Just wanted to say that if you liked this story, you might like my other, Charming and Transfiguring Strangers. It's a Sirius/OC fic. Also, I have a few one-shots, so please read and review those!**

**ALSO, these and many other complete and fantastic stories can be found in my C2, Marauder Medley, so you should check that out and subscribe! "Like That" will be added as soon as the final chapter is up.**

**Please?**

**Anyway, sometimes I get a little busy and don't respond to reviews, and I always feel bad because hey… you took the time to tell me what you thought and I really appreciate that… SO…**

**Virtual hugs and loves to:**

_PennyLane975 – For the enthusiasm and for forcing me to update!_

_Kallie-belle – Even though your reviews were mostly IMed, lol._

_Garden Spade – For being a loyal reviewer from the start!_

_DianaMC_

_retrophile_

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_Mariano's-twins_

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_pOkEd AnD sUrViVed_

_-rainbow-lights._

_another stars hollow freak_

**I hope I didn't miss anyone. Glad you all liked the story, and also thanks to anyone new who reviews this past chapter and the final chapter.**

**Sad to be almost done, eh?**


	30. Breaking the Breaking News

**Breaking the Breaking News**

James, Sirius and Peter were not the most likely candidates to be found sitting in the library after classes. However, they were looking for Remus, who _was_ the most likely candidate to be found sitting in the library.

"I really don't know where else to look," James said in complete bewilderment.

"Maybe we should check the hospital wing," Peter tried.

Sirius shook his head. "No, I think we'd be better off checking the morgue. The only reason I could think of for Remus to miss class this close to exams is that he must be dead. Like really, really dead."

"This would be so much easier if he hadn't taken the map. Why would he go somewhere fun without us?" James shook his head. "Yeah, maybe we should check the hospital wing. I suppose he could be visiting Lucy again, although it seems like she should be out of there by now."

The others agreed, and they turned to leave. Just as they were passing Madam Pince's desk, Remus came sliding in to the library, leaving a muddy trail behind him.

"Guess what!" he shouted, bounding in a very un-Remus like manner and spraying his precious library with a few gallons of rainwater.

The others couldn't guess if they wanted because they would have had to pick their jaws up off the floor first. Madam Pince shook with silent anger, but was too shocked to react.

"What's the matter with you three?"

Sirius stuttered. "Us? Wh-what's the matter with you?!"

James frowned. "No _note_, map _gone_, you missed _class_, for all we knew you were dead on the side of a road somewhere! And now you come sliding into the library, soaking wet and befouling the books… books! How could you miss class so close to exams!"

Peter just nodded furiously in agreement.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm a big boy, gents, I can handle myself. Besides, you'll never guess what's just happened!"

The others gave in with a sigh.

"You took your NEWTs early and got all O's," guessed James.

"Frank Longbottom has been made minister of magic," said Peter.

"Dumbledore hooked up with Kettleburn and they're expecting twins," said Sirius

"You finally pushed Lucy up against the wall and snogged her senseless," James again.

Remus broke into a grin.

The others fell silent again, until—

"Wait… Dumbledore and Kettleburn? Really?!"

"Sirius!"

"BOYS!" came a roar from beside them. Madam Pince had finally had enough and pointed towards the door, hand shaking.

They rushed out the door, apologizing profusely, and then laughing once it had slammed shut in their faces.

The boys all turned to each other and cheered.

"Nice! You can't do better than Lucy, that's for sure," Sirius smiled.

"Wow, Remus, you finally mustered up the confidence?" James patted his back.

He gave a small smile and shrugged. "But it wasn't a wall."

"What?"

"I didn't push her up against a wall."

Sirius grinned. "Well that's just a phrase, we wouldn't expect you to be so…"

"It was a tree."

The others dropped their jaws.

MWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPP

On the other side of the wall, a very different scene was taking place. Madam Pince looked around at her poor books, which would now have several water spots, and sniffed.

_Those students have no appreciation for books, _she thought miserably as she took out her wand and began to clean up the mud left behind.

Quite suddenly, she burst in to tears. She dropped a soggy copy of _Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and plopped into her desk chair, sobbing into her arms.

A pair of students at a nearby table glanced up from their studying.

"What's the matter with her?" One of them mumbled to the other. "It's just a book."

"Oh, she's just upset because she just overheard that Remus Lupin is off the market."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Everyone knows that all the faculty secretly wants to shag him."

**A/N: The End! Please review and tell me what you thought of this! It's going into my C2 now that it's complete.**

**Thank you so much for sticking around the whole way!**


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